.^'^mr^. 




Naval Battles 
of America 

Great and Decisive 

Contests on tlie Sea 

From Colonial Times to the Present, including 
OUR GLORIOUS VICTORIES AT 

MANILA AND SANTIAGO 



The Growth, Power and Management of 

OUR NEW NAVY 

In its Pride and Glory of Swift Cruiser, Impregnable Battleship, Ponderous 

Engine and Deadly Projectile ; Our Naval Academy, Training 

Ship, Hospital, Revenue, Light House and 

Life Saving Service 



ILLUSTRATED 



By EDWARD SHIPPEN 

of the United States Navy 



P. W. ZIEGLER CO. 

PHILADELPHIA 



C ■=-■ c:' 



LIBRARY of aONGi^tSS 
fwu Copies litxa^a 

JUN ? lyui) 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1905, 

by 

D. W. CASKEY, Jr. 



PREFACE. 

At one time in the history of the United States, when 
the population was comparatively small, and most of it con- 
centrated in what are now termed the Eastern States, almost 
every one was familiar with the exploits of our naval ofificers 
and seamen during the Revolutionary War, the War of i8i2- 
15, the Mexican and the Florida Wars — beside the en 
counters with pirates in many parts of the world. Since 
these memorable encounters the way of the population has 
largely gone westward, so that the East, where maritime 
afifairs are necessarily better understood, has been left much 
in the minority. When a war occurs— which must be largely 
naval — the people of the centre and West are naturally in- 
quiring — 'Why do we not have more ships?" The answer 
is, that Congress (their own representatives among them) 
has not seen fit to increase the navy in proportion to our in- 
crease of population and the increase of our responsibilities. 

Many representatives do not at all realize that it takes 
years to build a modern battleship, and that the men to man 
them are not to be picked up on the wharves of any seaboard 
city, but must be put through a long training to be efficient. 

Recent events, however, will prevent any serious oppo- 
sition to naval increase for years to come. The lesson has 
been too striking an one. 

Yet Congress has not been illiberal — according to its 
lights. Since 1883 it has authorized the construction of 
seventy-seven vessels, of all rates, sixteen of which are not 
yet completed. The cost of these was more than $134,000,- 
000, yet that has only about been spent in a month of war 
preparation, which might possibly have been saved if we had 
had ready a naval and military force which would have ren^ 
dered impossible any^ armed opposition to our demand. 



IV PREFACE. 

A few years previous to the Spanish war there was not 
a modern gun afloat in the United States Navy, and we had 
no faciHties for the manufacture of heavy armor. At the 
end of the nineteenth century our estabhshments for gun- 
making, armor-forging, and ship and engine building com- 
pare favorably with any in the world. 

Turning from the naval ships to the men who used them 
as the medium of their prowess, the American may feel a 
pardonable pride in the national character which produces 
the right men at the right time. From the incipiency of the 
navy of the United States down to the fervid days of the 
Spanish War, the sea-fighters have stood out prominent for 
bravery and daring. The god of old received new strength 
at each contact with the earth ; the naval men of newer days, 
it would seem, beget unswerving gallantry from old ocean. 
The navy has yet to show its man who defected at a crucial 
moment, it has yet to show its man who failed of heroism 
when opposed by an enemy he faced possible defeat and 
death. Our John Paul Jones, on the Serapis — he who raised 
the first American naval flag — gave to the enemies of the 
Colonies a taste of valor under disadvantage that has ever 
since rung through the world. From that time, through all 
the various wars in which we have been engaged, down to our 
latest contest when Dewey, Sampson and Schley made rec- 
ords which belong in the annals of fame, the American Navy 
has stood for a synonym of all that was manly, good and 
earnest patriotism. As a nation we have every reason to 
hail our warriors with exultation — the army for its deeds on 
land, the navy for its splendid achievements on the sea. 
Without the spread-eagle boast, of which we have sometimes 
been accused, we, as a nation, have a right to the glow that 
warms us when we think of our men on the field, and of our 
men on the wave. 



Contents 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. A. D. 1779. 

A Remarkable Action ; Sketch of the Hero, John Paul Jones ; Receives a 
Commission in the United Colonial "Navy ; Hoists the First American Flagon 
Sea ; The French Salute the " Stars and Stripes ;" France Gives Him a Large 
Merchantman, which he Names the Bonhomme Richard ; Sketch of Jones' 
Later Life; Lafayette; Franklin; Additional Ships Fitted out for Jones in 
France; Description of the Bonhomme Richard; Sailing of the Fleet; 
Richard Dale; Cruises on the Coast of Scotland; Discovery of the Serapis 
Convoying About Forty Merchantmen; Description of Her; The Serapis 
Stands Out to Protect Her Convoy ; The Two Vessels Engage as Night Comes 
On; Two of Jones' 1 8- pounders Burst at the First Discharge; Captain 
Pearson, of the Serapis, Inquires whether the Bonhomme Richard has Struck; 
Jones Replies that He has Not yet Commenced to Fight; The Vessels 
Come Afoul Again; Jones Lashes Them Together; The Americans Drop 
Hand-grenades and Matches Down the Hatches of the Serapis and Cause a 
Terrific Explosion ; The Serapis Finally Surrenders ; Jones Transfers His Men 
to the Serapis ; The Bonhomme Richard Sinks ; Jones Carries His Force to 
the Texel; One of the Most Remarkable Sea Fights on Record. 13 

WASP AND FROLIC. A. D. 1812. 

The American Sloop Wasp Encounters the English Sloop Frolic ; The Fight 
Begins in a Rough Sea; Accurate Firing of the Americans; The Frolic Terri- 
bly Shattered ; She Surrenders ; The Wasp and Her Prize Overtaken and 
Captured by a British 74. 45 

CONSTITUTION. A. D. 1812. ^ 

Description of the English Squadron Sent to American Waters ; They Discover 
the U. S. Frigate Constitution and Give Chase ; She Escapes and Reaches 
Boston, by Good Seamanship ; Puts to Sea again and Meets the GuerriSre ; A 
Sharp Conflict; The British Frigate Dismasted and Compelled to Surrender; 
Controversies Regarding the Relative Strength of the Two Frigates; An 
English View of the Fight. 5° 

LAKE ERIE, loth SEPTEMBER, A. D. 1813. ' 

Importance of This Victory; Obser^'ations by Roosevelt; Sketch of Oliver 
Hazard Perry ; He Equips a Fleet on Lake Erie ; Strength of the Enemy's 
Forces; Captain Robert Heriot Barclay in Command of the Latter; His 
Brilliant Career; Description of the American Fleet; Th« British Discovered 

V 



yj CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

Near Put-In-Bay; Perry Prepares to Meet Them ; The Battle Opens; Perry's 
Flag-ship Suffers Severely ; Her Guns Disabled ; Perry Leaves in an Open 
Boat, for the Niagara ; He Brings Her Into Action and Forces the Enemy to 
Surrender in Short Order; Condition of Both Fleets; The Losses; Perry's 
Famous Letter ; Incidents Related by Surgeon Parsons. 67 

ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

A Remarkable Engagement ; First Appearance of Farragut in History ; Sketch 
of Captain Porter, Commander of the Essex ; Sent to the South Sea to Destroy 
the English Merchant Marine ; Success of His Mission ; The English Send 
Commodore James Hillyar to Look After Him ; Porter Goes Into Valparaiso 
Bay, a Neutral Port; The Phoebe and Cherub Appear in the Harbor; 
Friendly Salutations of the Opposing Commanders ; Various Incidents ; Hear- 
ing of Other English Vessels, Porter Determines to Escape to Sea ; Meets 
w^ith an Accident in Rounding a Point ; Attacked by the Phoebe and Cherub 
•while Attempting to Regain Her Former Anchorage ; She is Terribly Cut Up, 
and Finally Surrenders ; Later Incidents; Farragut's Observations. 97 

BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, SEPTEMBER nth, A. D. 1814. 

Important Results of This Battle; Events Relating Thereto; Both Nations 
Begin the Building of a Fleet ; Captain Thomas McDonough ; The English 
Invade the Country by Land and Water; Relative Strength of the Two 
Armies and Navies; Captain Downie in Command of the English; The 
Hostile Fleets Meet Off Plattsburg, September nth, 1814; Good Judgment 
of Captain McDonough in Selecting a Position ; The Battle Begins ; Steady 
and Accurate Firing on Both Sides; McDonough's Flag-ship, after Having 
all the Guns on one side Silenced, Shifts Round, and with the Other Broad- 
side Decides the Day ; Concluding Remarks ; Honors to McDonough. 124 

THE CONSTITUTION IN ACTION WITH THE CYANE AND '/ 
LEVANT. A. D. 1815. 

A Singular Action ; Captain Charles Stewari ; History of the Constitution Prior 
to this Event ; She Meets the Cyane and Levant and Captures Both After a 
Short Action ; Details of the Fight; Skilful Management of the Constitution 
by Captain Stewart; He Carries His Prizes to Porto Prayo; Discovers a Large 
Vessel Outside the Harbor ; He gives Instant Orders to put to Sea ; Three 
British Vessels of War Turn Up ; The Cyane Escapes to New York ; The 
Levant Returns to Porto Praya Harbor, where the English Recapture Her ; 
Good Judgment of Captain Stewart ; Later History of the Constitution. 150 

MONITOR AND MERRIMAC. MARCH 9TH, A. D, 1862. '' 
Origin and History of the Merrimac ; Strength of the Union Fleet at Hampton 
Roads; Government Preparations to Meet the Ironclad Merrimac; The Latter 



CONTENTS. m 

FA«B 

Makes H«f Appearanc* J Sinks the Cumberland and Compels the Congress 
to Strike Her Colors ; The Guns of the Union Fleet Harmless on the Armor 
of the Merrimac ; The Monitor puts in an Appearance ; Her History, and 
That of Captain Ericsson, Her Inventor ; Details of Her Engagement With 
the Merrimac ; The Latter Finally Retires ; Armament of the Opposing Iroa- 
dads; Subsequent History of the Monitor. ,5^ 

FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. ^' 

TTie Government Determines to Regain Possession of the Mississippi ; Farragut 
sent to the Gulf; The Army Under Gen. Butler to Co-operate With Him; 
Description of the Approaches to New Orleans, the Obstructions and Fortifica- 
tions ; Strength of Farragut's Fleet ; He Determines to Pass the Forts ; The 
Fleet Advances on the Night of April 23-24 ; Detailed Account of the Thrilling 
Incidents ; New Orleans at His Mercy ; The City Surrenders ; Destruction of 
Property by the Confederates; The Forts Surrender ; Minor Details. 182 

ATLANTA AND WEEHAWKEN. JUNE 17TH, A. D. 1863. 

The Blockade-runner Fingal Converted Into the Ironclad Atlanta ; Description 
of Her; Confidence in Her Ability to Destroy the Monitors; She Leaves 
Savannah to Break the Blockade and Encounters the Weehawken ; A Trial 
of Heavy Artillery and Heavy Armor ; The Atlanta Strikes Her Colors in 
Fifteen Minutes After the Battle Begins ; Details of this Extraordinary En- 
gagement ; Practical Results of this Fight. 205 

KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. JUNE 19TH, A. D. 1864. "^ 

Origin and History of the Alabama; Her Destruction of Our Commerce ; Eludes 
Our Cruisers ; Discovered in Cherbourg Harbor by Captain Winslow, of the 
United States Steamer Kearsarge; Semmes, of the Alabama, Challenges 
Winslow ; The Former is Escorted Beyond the French Jurisdiction by the 
French Ironclad Couronne, June 19th, 1864; The Kearsarge Clears for 
Action; The Battle Opens; Terrible Effects of the Latter's Guns; The 
Alabama Soon Disabled and Sinking; She Surrenders; An English Yacht, 

- Permitted to Pick Up the Prisoners, Among Whom are Captain Semmes and 
Other Officers, Treacherously Makes Off With Them to England ; Letter of 
Secretary Welles to Winslow ; Other Interesting Particulars. 210 

MOBILE BAY. AUGUST 5TH, A. D. 1864. 

Farragut's Movements After the Battle of New Orleans; His Promotion; 
Prepares to Attack Mobile; Minor Incidents; Description of the Enemy's 
Fleet and Fortifications ; Names of Farragut's Vessels and Their Commanders; 
The Order to Advance ; Sinking of the Monitor Tecumseh by a Torpedo ; 
Splendid Manoeuvring of the Fleet; Heavy Cannonading on Both Sides; 
Snirender of the Confederate Ironclad Tennessee ; Further Details of this 
Great Battle; Honors to Farragut. 22€ 



vm CONTENTS. 

CUSHINO AND THE ALBEMARLE. OCTOBER, A. D. 1864. 

The Confcderatci Discovered Building an Ironclad on Roanoke River, North 
Carolina; She Makes Her Appearance, Destroys One Union Vessel, and 
Injures Several Others; Lieutenant Cushing ; His Singular Character and 
Daring Adventures ; He Sinks the Albemarle with a Torpedo, while she is 
Lying at a wharf; His Official Report ; His Subsequent Career ; His Death, ^56 
FORT FISHER. DECEMBER A. D. 1864, JANUARY A. D. 1866. 

Importance of the Place to the Confederates; The Largest Fleet That Ever 
Sailed Under the American Flag Invests It, Under Admiral Porter ; The 
Army Co-operates With the Fleet; Failure of the First Attack; Gen. Terry 
Arrives With Reinforcements, and a Fresh Investment of the Place Begins 
January 13th, 1865 ; Details of This Famous Engagement; Fort Fisher Sur- 
renders; Appearance After the Battle; Other Incidents; Blockade-runners. 273 

DEEDS OF VALOR ON THE SEAS. 

Captain Silas Talbot ; Ancestry • In the American Camp ; Commands a Fire- 
Ship ; Grapples the "Asia"; Promoted; Captures the "Pigof; Again 
Promoted; Fits Out the " Pigot " and the"Argo"; Captures three Prizes 
from the West Indies ; The " King George ; A Terror to the Coast ; Talbot 
Captures the " King George ; " Argo " Returned to her Owners ; Talbot in 
Command of a Private Armed Ship ; Captured by an English Fleet ; The 
Notorious Prison Ship "Jersey"; Taken to England; Dartmoor Prison; 
Three Attempts at Escape ; Exchanged for an English Officer ; At Paris ; 
Sails for America ; Captured by a Privateer ; Reaches New York ; Retires 
to a Farm ; Selected to Command a New Frigate ; In Command of " Old 
Ironsides"; Captures the "Sandwich"; Questions of Rank; Withdraws 
from the Service ; Buys Land in Kentucky; Characteristics ; Death ; Burial 
in Trinity Church, New York ; The Whaleboat Men of the Revolution ; 
George Raymond; The Connecticut Fleet; A Terror to the British ; Daring 
Leaders ; Captain Mariner ; Captain Hyde ; Mariner Visits a Tavern in Dis- 
guise ; Major Sherbook Denounces Mariner ; Mariner Searches the Major's 
House ; Captures the Major; Captain Hyler at Egg Harbor ; Captures an 
English Corvette ; Hyler Visits New York in Disguise ; Searches for a No- 
torious Tory ; Captures an East Indiaman ; Hyler on Land ; Captures a 
Hessian Major; Captures four Trading Sloops; Usefulness of the Whaleboat 
Men ended with the War ; Captain James Drew ; In the English Service ; 
Persecuted by a Lieutenant ; Knocks his Persecutor Down ; Escape by 
Swimming ; Arrives at Philadelphia ; Goes to France ; In Command of the 
"De Brock"' Loaded with Gold and War Material ; Lands in Maryland ; 
Cargo Escorted to Wilmington; Arms to Headquarters ; Treasure to a Man- 
sion ; The Gold Stolen ; Drew Mans his Ship ; Fights an English Ship ; 
Drew's Former Persecutor in Command ; The Duel on the Deck ; Drew 
Kills the Commander and Captures the Ship ; Drew's Marriage ; Captures 
two Prites of Immense V&Iue } Drew's Fatal Banquet; Loss of the '• Dc 



CONTENTS. IX 

PAoa 

Brock "; Drew's Body Washed Ashore • The Churchyard at Lewes, Dela- 
ware ; Stephen Decatur ; Story of the Barbary Pirates ; The Frigate " Phil- 
adelphia"; Captured by Pirates ; The Bashaw of Tripoli ; The " Philadel- 
phia " added to the Bashaw's Fleet; The "Mastico"; Decatur Burns the 
"Philadelphia"; Chased by Pirates; Commodore Preble; Submission of 
the Bashaw ; McDougall and the " Wyoming"; Searching for the "Ala- 
bama"; In Japanese Seas; The Prince of Nagato ; Independent Pirate; 
His Captures; Fires on the "Pembroke"; McDougall at Simonoseki ; 
Fights three Japanese Vessels and Shore Batteries ; Disables the Ships ; 
Silences the Batteries; Demands Indemnity; The Share of the United 
States; Captain McGiffen; Graduate of Annapolis; In the Chinese Service; 
Battle of the Yalu; Battle between Modern Ships ; The Chen Yuen ; Des- 
perate Fighting ; McGiffen Thrashes a Coward ; Five Hours Action ; 
McGiffen Terribly Wounded ; Returns to America a Physical Wreck ; His 
Death. 289 

THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 

The Maine at Havana; The Explosion; Loss of Life; Captain Sigsbee's Tele- 
gram; Description of the Maine; Divers and Wrecking Apparatus; The 
Flag Hauled Down; NaVal Board of Inquiry; The Testimony; The Find- 
ing of the Court; Feeling in the United States; Forbearance of the Nation; 
Chaplain Chidwick; Rumors of Retaliation; The President and his Advisers. 337 



First Serious Encounter between the United States and Spain; The Philippine 
Islands; Area and Population; Discovery of the Group; Religious Orders; 
Island of Luzon; City of Manila; Commerce and Manufactures; Bay of 
Manila; Arrival of the United States Squadron; Partial Destruction; Break- 
fast; Bombardment Resumed; Complete Destruction of the Spanish Ships 
and Forts; Dewey's Despatch; Vessels Composing American Fleet; The 
Action in Detail; Secretary of the Navy Congratulates Dewey; Congress 
Votes a Sword for Dewey; Medals for Officers and Men ; Dewey Made a 
Rear Admiral. 350 

NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 

Chances for Individual Heroism ; The Pick of the Navy ; The Winslow Fired 
Upon; Returns to Fight the Gunboats ; Rendered Helpless; The Hudson; 
A Line Thrown ; Ensign Bagley Killed ; Lieutenant Newcomb ; Thanks of 
Congress ; Marblehead ; Nashville and Windom ; Volunteer Crews ; Drag- 
ging for Cables ; Terrific Shore Fire ; Marblehead Cuts Down Lighthouse ; 
Splendid Nerve ; Lieutenant Winslow ; Lieutenant Hobson ; His Plan ; ^i 
Sinking the Merrimac ; Ensign Powell ; Thanked by Congress ; In Morro 
Castle ; Hobson and Men Exchanged ; Hobson's Story, 3^2 



X CONTENTS. 

PA«a 

THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

The Cape Verde Fleet ; The Mystery Solved; Schley at Santiago ; Harbor of 
Santiago ; Preliminary Bombardment ; Second Bombardment ; Third Bam- 
bardment ; Landing of Shafter ; Cervera's Dash ; Story of the Fight ; On 
the Brooklyn ; On the Iowa ; On the Texas ; The Wrecked Cruisers ; Sur- 
render of the Colon ; Cervera's Orders ; Captain Eulate ; Commander 
Centores ; Captain Maocrohon ; Opinions. 402 

OUR NEW NAVY. 

Use of Armor for Ships | Harveyized Nickel Steel ; Modem Explosives ; Ves- 
sels of the Nevir Navy; The Question of Fuel; Torpedo Boats; Torpedo 
Catchers; Speed; The Navies of Europe; Of China and Japan; Need of 
a Better Navy; Merchant Vessels; Ship Yards; Machinery; Duty of 
Officers; Training of Officers; The Naval Academy; History of the 
Institution ; Course of Instruction ; Marine Corps ; Revenue Marine ; 
Marine Hospital Service; Light Houses; Training Ships; Life Saving 
Service ; The Flag. 439 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page 

The Kearsarge Sinking the Alabama Frontispiece 

Engagement Between the Serapis and Bonhomme Richard 17 

Medal Awarded to John Paul Jones 43 

Capture of the Guerriere by the Constitution 50 

Perry's Victory on Lake Erie 67 

Macdonough's Victory on Lake Champlain 134 

Capture of The Cyane and Levant by the Constitution 151 

Engagement Between the Monitor and Merrimac 170 

The Capture of New Orleans 187 

The Sinking of the "Alabama" off the Harbor of Cherbourg by the 

"Kearsarge" 211 

New Battleship Kearsarge 218 

Farragut Entering Mobile Bay 246 

Battle of Mobile Bay 255 

Le Solferino, 1865 255 

The Capture of Fort Fisher 277 

Decatur's Struggle With the Algerines 295 

Battle of the Yalu 330 

Blowing Up of the Maine in Havana Harbor 336 

U. S. Steamship Katahdin 345 

Admiral Dewey and his Flagship Olympia 7,77 

Cutting Cables near Cienfuegos under Spanish Fire 388 

The Battle of Manila. The American Fleet 3S7 

The Spanish Fleet. After the Battle of Manila 368 

Admiral Dewey and His Flagship Olympia 2>77 

Cutting Cables Near Cienfuegos Under Spanish Fire 388 

Capture of Hobson and the "Merrimac" Men 397 

Admiral Cervera's Fleet Leaving -Curacoa 408 

The Destruction of Admiral Cervera's Fleet off Santiago, July 3, 1898. 413 

Battleships Iowa and Oregon Destroying Spanish Cruisers 432 

Deck of U. S. S. Indiana 438 

U. S. S. Oregon 447 

At the Wheel 453 

Writing Home 453 

Serving Hammocks 472 

The Battleship Massachusetts in the Stocks 477 

Cruiser Columbia in Dry Dock, League Island 488 

xi 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 
A. D. 1779. 




HIS remarkable action is interesting not only 
on account of its bloody and desperate 
character, and on account of the sensation 
it produced at the time, but because it 
illustrates one phase of our great struggle 
for independence ; a considerable space is 
therefore devoted to it. 

The hero of this action, John Paul, was 
born at Kirkcudbright, in Scotland, July 6th, 1 747 ; and 
was sent to sea, as an apprentice, at the age of twelve. 
He afterwards made voyages as mate of a slaver, then an 
honored and recognized employment for a portion of the 
English merchant marine. 

At twenty-one he had command of a vessel In the West 
India trade, so that his merits as a seaman were early 
recognized. He afterwards became a trader in a vessel 
of his own. 

At the age of twenty-six he left the sea ; and adopted 
the name of Jones. The reason for this does not clearly 
appear. He may have had some old scores to clear; and, 
settling in a new world, may have thought a new name 
necessary. 

In December, 1 775, he was appointed a First Lieutenant 
in the United Colonial Navy, and ordered to the Alfred, 
our first flag-ship. He hoisted the first flag of the 



14 SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

Colonies afloat; a yellow flag, with the pine tree ana 
rattlesnake. In this ship he participated in several 
actions; and was afterwards in command of the Provi- 
dence, when he only escaped capture by excellent 
seamanship. He made many prizes In this ship. 

On Oct. loth, 1776, he was named the i8th naval 
captain, and, in command of the Alfred and Providence, 
captured a valuable armed ship, and other prizes, again 
eluding recapture by good seamanship. 

He next went to European waters in command of the 
Ranger, 18, and there received, from a French squadron, 
the first salute to the Stars and Stripes, by this time 
adopted. 

He cruised in English waters, burning ships at White 
Haven, and spiking guns in batteries on shore; and then 
attempted to carry off the Earl of Selkirk. In this he 
failed, but having carried off some of that nobleman's 
plate, was branded by the English as a pirate. This 
epithet came with a bad grace from a nation then cele- 
brated for thorough "looting" of every place which came 
into their hands, in India, and elsewhere. The real 
offence was that Jones was an English subject, who had 
renounced his allegiance, and was serving against the 
mother country; like all the rest of those engaged in the 
Revolution. During this cruise in the Ranger he took 
the Drake, of 20 guns. 

After this he received from the French government an 
©Id Indlaman, called the Due de Duras, which he 
renamed the " Bonhomme Richard," or Poor Richard, in 
allusion to the publication by Benjamin Franklin. 

He had some other armed vessels, mostly " letters ot 
marque," under his command. 

The Bonhomme Richard had 40 guns, and a mixed 
crew, of various nationalities. Jones sailed under such 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 15 

hampering restrictions that he was prevented from 
carrying out many promising projects; but at last, on 
the 23d of September, he fell in with a Baltic fleet of 
merchantmen, convoyed by the English frigate Serapis, 
44, and the Countess of Scarborough, 20. The result of 
the engagement which ensued will be given (lereafter. 

To continue the sketch of Jones himself, we may say 
that, in 1 780, the year after this action, he sailed for the 
United States, in the Ariel, 20, but lost his masts In a 
severe gale of wind, and was obliged to return to France ; 
whence he sailed again and arrived safely, about the 
beginning of 178 1. 

He was then launched in the America, 74, which was 
presented by our Government to the French ; and he 
made a cruise in her as a volunteer. 

In I 'j2>^ he was prize agent of the United States In 
Europe; and finally. In 1787, while in Denmark, he re- 
signed, and entered the Russian Navy — hoisting his flag, 
as Rear Admiral, In the "Vladimir," on the 28th of June, 
1788. He found so much jealousy and enmity towards 
him that he resigned in about a year. 

Afterwards he resided in Holland and France, and 
was appointed Commissioner of the United States to 
Algiers — but his death occurred at this time, at the age 
of forty-five. 

And now, to return to his cruise in the Bonhomme 
Richard : — 

Paul Jones had obtained so much celebrity for his 
cruise In the Ranger, that, after that ship departed for 
America he remained In France, in the hope of re- 
ceiving a more important command. 

During the years 1778-9 various projects were 
discussed, in which he was to have a part. One idea 
was to make a descent upon Liverpool, with a body oi 



16 SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

troops to be commanded by La Fayette. These plans 
all came to nothing-, and his offers of service were re- 
pulsed ; until at last a singular arrangement was proposed 
to him. 

M. de Sartine, French Minister of Marine, in a letter 
of February, 14th, 1779, states that the King- of France 
had decided to purchase, and put at the disposition of 
Captain Jones, the Duras — an old Indiaman of some 
size, then at I'Orient. To this vessel were added three 
more, procured by means of M. le Ray de Chaumont, 
a banker who had connections with the French 
Ministry. 

Dr. Franklin, who, as Minister of the United States, 
was supposed, in a legal sense, to direct the whole 
affair, added the Alliance, 32, by virtue of authority from 
Congress. 

The vessels thus procured formed a little squadron, 
composed of the Bonhomme Richard, Alliance, Pallas, 
Cerf, and Vengeance. The Pallas was a purchased 
merchantman ; the Vengeance a small purchased brig ; 
the Cerf was a large cutter, and, with the exception of the 
Alliance, the only vessel of the squadron built for war 
purposes. All but the Alliance were French built, and 
they were placed under the American flag by the following 
arrangement : the officers received appointments, which 
were to remain valid for a limited period only, from Dr. 
Franklin, who had been furnished blank commissions, to 
fill at his own discretion, ever since he had arrived in 
Europe. The vessels were to show the American ensign 
and no other. In short, the French ships were to be 
considered as American ships during this particular 
service : and when It was terminated they were to revert 
to their former owners. The laws and provisions made 
for the American navy were to govern, and command was 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RlCHARD. 17 

to be exercised, and to descend, according to its usages. 
Such officers as already had rank in the American Navy 
took precedence, agreeably to dates of commission, and 
new appointments were regulated by priority of appoint- 
ment. 

B/ especial provision, Captain Jones was to be Com- 
mander-in-chief, a post which his original commission 
entitled him to fill, as Captain Landais, the only other 
regular captain in the squadron, was his junior. The 
joint right of the American Minister and of the French 
Government to direct the movements of the squadron 
was recognized. 

It Is not exactly known from what source the money 
was obtained to fit out this squadron ; and it Is likely that 
It never will be known, especially as the French Revolu- 
tion destroyed so many records, public and private. 
Although the name of the King was used, It Is possible 
that private adventure was at the bottom of the enter- 
prise, although the French Government furnished vessels 
and the use of its stores. Dr. Franklin expressly stated 
that he made no advances for the ships employed. 

As everything connected with this remarkable expe- 
dition has Interest for us. It is as well to go a little further 
into the composition of the force fitted out by Jones. 

After many delays, the Bonhomme Richard was 
equipped and manned. It was intended to cast i8- 
pounders for her, but as that would take too much time, 
old 1 2's were substituted. With this change In armament, 
the Richard, as she was called by the sailors, got ready 
for sea. 

She was, properly, a single-decked ship, that is, carry- 
ing her armament on one gun-deck, with the usual addi- 
tions on the quarter-deck and forecastle. 

But Commodore Jones, with a view to attacking the 

' 2b 



18 SERAPIS AND BONHUMME RICHARD. 

enemy's large convoys, caused twelve ports to be cut in 
the gun-room, below, where six old i8-pounders were 
mounted, with the intention of fighting all of them on the 
same side, in smooth water. It was foreseen that these 
guns could only be of use in moderate weather, or when 
engaged to leeward, but the ship's height admitted of 
them, and it was done. 

On her gun-deck proper the ship had twenty-eight 
ports, the regular construction of an English 38-gun ship 
at that time. Here the 12-pounders were placed. On 
her quarter-deck and forecastle were mounted eight 9's; 
making, in all, a mixed armament, rather light, to be sure, 
of 42 guns. If the six i8's were taken away, the ship 
would have been what was called a 3 2 -gun frigate. 

She was a clumsy vessel, built many years before, with 
the high, old-fashioned poop, which resembled a tower. 

With a vessel of this singular armament and unwieldy 
construction, Jones was compelled to receive on board a 
crew of very doubtful composidon. A few Americans 
filled officers' positions; but the crew embraced represent- 
atives of more than twelve nationalities. To keep this 
motley crew in order, one hundred and thirty-five marines, 
or soldiers, were put on board. These were nearly as 
much mixed, as to nationalides, as the sailors. 

Just as the squadron was about to sail M. le Ray de 
Chaumont appeared atl'Orient, and presented a concordat 
or agreement, for the signature of all the commanders. 
This looked very much like a partnership in a privateering 
expedition, and was the cause of much after disobedience 
among Jones' captains. 

On June 19th, 1779, the ships sailed, bound south, with 
a small convoy of vessels. These they escorted safely 
in*-o the Garonne, and other ports ; but not without 
repeated exhibidon, thus early, of disobedience of orders, 



1 

SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 19 

and unseamanlike conduct, which marked the v/hole 
career of this squadron, so ill assorted and manned. 

While lying to, off the coast, the Alliance, by lubberly 
handling, got foul of the Richard, and lost her mizzen- 
mast; carrying away, at the same time, the head, 
cutwater andjib-boom of the Richard. This necessitated 
a return to port, to refit. 

When at sea again, and steering to the northward, 
the Cerf cutter was sent in chase of a strange sail, and 
parted company. 

The next morning she engaged a small English 
cruiser, of 14 guns, and caused her to strike, after 
a sharp fight of an hour; but she was forced to 
abandon her prize by the approach of an enemy's 
vessel of superior force. The Cerf went into I'Orient 
again. 

On the 23d three enemy's vessels-of-war were seen 
by the squadron ; and, having the wind, they ran down 
in a line abreast, when, most probably deceived by the 
height and general appearance of the Richard, they 
hauled up and escaped under a press of sail. On the 
26th the Alliance and Pallas parted company with the 
Richard, leaving that ship with the Vengeance brig only, 
for consort. On reaching the Penmarks, a headland of 
Finisterre, the designated rendezvous, the missing 
vessels did not appear. On the 29th, the Vengeance 
having gone, by permission, into Groix Roads, the 
Richard fell in with two more of the English cruisers, 
which, after some hesitation, also ran, evidently under 
the impression that the Richard was a two-decker. 

Jones had reason to be satisfied with the spirit of his 
crew on this occasion, the people manifesting a strong 
disposition to engage. 

At last, on the 30th, the Richard ran into Isle Groix, 



20 SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

off r Orient; and about the same time the Pallas and 
Alliance came in. 

Then another delay occurred. A court was convened 
to inquire into the conduct of Captain Landais, of the 
Alliance, in running foul of the Richard. Both ships 
also had to undergo repairs. Luckily, just then a cartel 
arrived from England, bringing more than one hundred 
exchanged American seamen, most of whom joined the 
squadron. . 

This was a most important accession to the crew of the 
Richard, and that of the Alliance. Neither of these ships 
had had many Americans among their crews. Among 
those who came from the English prisons was Mr. 
Richard Dale, who had been captured as a Master's 
Mate, in the Lexington, 14. 

This young officer did not reach France in the cartel, 
however, but had previously escaped, came to 1' Orient, 
and joined the Richard. Jones soon learned his worth, 
and, in reorganizing his ship, had made him First 
Lieutenant. 

The Richard had now nearly one hundred American 
seamen on board, and all the officers were native Ameri- 
cans, but the commander and one midshipman. Many of 
the petty officers were Americans also. In a letter of 
August nth, Jones states that the crew of the Richard 
consisted of 380 souls, including 137 soldiers, or marines^ 

On the 14th of August the squadron sailed a second 
time, from Groix Roads; having the French privateers 
Monsieur and Granville in company, and under Jones' 
orders. The first parted company almost immediately, on 
account of differences concerning a valuable prize; and 
another was taken the day she left. 

On the 23d the ships were off Cape Clear, and while 
towing the Richard's head round, in a calm, the crew of 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 21 

the boat, which happened to be manned by Eng-lishmen, 
cut the tow-line, and escaped. Mr. Lunt, the saiHng- 
master, manned another boat, and taking four marines, 
pursued the fugitives. A fog came on, and Mr. Lunt 
not being able to find the ships again, fell into the hands 
of the enemy. Through this desertion, and its immediate 
consequences, the Richard lost twenty of her best men. 

The day after this escape the Cerf cutter was sent 
close in, to reconnoitre, and to look for the missing 
people; and, for some unexplained reason this useful 
vessel never rejoined the squadron. There appeared to 
have been no suspicion of any treachery on her part, and 
we are left to conjecture the cause of her disappearance. 

A gale of wind followed, during which the Alliance and 
Pallas separated, and the Granville parted company, by 
order, with a prize. The separation of the Pallas was 
caused by the breaking of her tiller; but that of the 
Alliance was due to the unofficerlike and unseamanlike 
conduct of her commander. 

On the morning of the 27th the brig Vengeance was 
the only vessel in company with the Commodore. 

On August 31st the Bonhomme Richard, being off 
Cape Wrath, the northwest extremity of Scotland, 
captured a large English letter-of-marque, bound from 
London to Quebec; a circumstance which proves the 
expedients to which their ship-masters were then driven 
to avoid capture, this vessel having gone north about, to 
escape the cruisers on the ordinary track. While in 
chase of the letter-of-marque, the Alliance hove in sight, 
having another London ship, from Jamaica, as a prize. 

Captain Landais, of the Alliance, was an officer who 
had been obliged to quit the French Navy on account of 
his unfortunate temper. He now began to show a 
disorganizing and mutinous spirit; pretending, as his 



22 SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

ship was the only real American vessel in the squadron, 
that that fact rendered him superior to Jones, and that 
he should do as he pleased with his ship. 

That afternoon a strange sail was made, and the Richard 
showed the Alliance's number, with an order to close. 
Instead of obeying the signal, Captain Landais wore, and 
laid the head of his ship in the opposite direction. Other 
signals were disobeyed; and the control of Commodore 
Jones over the ship, which ought to have been the most 
efficient of the squadron, may be said to have ceased. 

Jones now shaped his course for the rendezvous he 
had appointed, in hopes of meeting the missing ships, 
and the Pallas rejoined him, having captured nothing. 

From then until the 13th of September the squadron 
continued its course round Scotland ; the ships sepa- 
rating and rejoining constantly, and Captain Landais 
assuming power over the prizes, as well as over his own 
vessel, that was altogether opposed to discipline and to 
marine usage. 

On the 13th of September the Cheviot Hills were in 
sight from the ships. Understanding that a 20-gun ship, 
with two or three man-of-war cutters, were lying at 
anchor off Leith, in the Frith of Forth, Commodore Jones 
planned a descent upon that town. At this time the 
Alliance was absent, and the Pallas and Vengeance 
having chased to the southward, the necessity of com- 
municating with those vessels caused a fatal delay, and 
ruined a promising project. The attempt was at last\ 
made, but when the men were actually in the boats the 
ships were driven out of the Frith by a heavy blow ; and 
when in the North Sea one of their prizes actually 
foundered. 

The design was so audacious that it is probable the 
English would have been taken by surprise; and no 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 23 

doubt much damage would have been done to them, but 
for the gale. Dale, a modest and prudent man, thought 
so. 

After this bold project was abandoned, Jones appears 
to have meditated another still more daring; but liis 
colleagues, as he bitterly styles his captains, refused to 
join in it. We do not know what it was ; but only tha^ 
the officers of Jones' own ship heartily approved it. 
Jones had much respect for the judgment of Captain 
Cottineau, of the Pallas, and as he disapproved of it, it 
was dropped. 

The Pallas and Vengeance even left the Richard — 
probably with a view to prevent the attempt to execute 
this nameless scheme ; and the Commodore was com 
pelled to follow his captains to the southward or los^ 
them altogether. 

Off Whitby they came together again, and on Sept. 
2 1 St the Richard chased a collier ashore, near Flam- 
borough Head. 

The next day she was at the mouth of the Humber, 
the Vengeance being in company, and several vessels 
were taken or destroyed. Pilots were enticed on board, 
and a knowledge of the state of things inshore obtained. 
It appeared that the whole coast was alarmed, and that 
many persons were burying their plate. By this time 
about a dozen vessels had been taken, and rumor 
increased the number. No vessels had ever before 
excited such local alarm on British shores, for centuries. 

Under the circumstances Commodore Jones did not 
think it prudent to remain so close in with the land, and 
he accordingly stood out under Flamborough Head. 
Here he was joined, next day, by the Pallas and Alliance. 
This was on the 23d of September. 

The wind was light from the southward, the water 



24 ■ SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

smooth, and many vessels in sight, steering- in different 
directions. About noon the squadron, with the exception 
of the Cerf and the two privateers, being all in company, 
Jones manned one of the pilot-boats he had detained, and 
sent her in chase of a brig, which was lying to, to wind- 
ward. On board the little vessel were Mr. Lunt, the 
Second Lieutenant, and fifteen men, all of whom were 
absent from the ship for the rest of the day. 

In consequence of the loss of the two boats off Cape 
Clear, the absence of the party in the pilot-boat, and the 
number of men that had been put in prizes, the Richard 
was now left with only one lieutenant, and with but little 
more than three hundred souls on board, exclusive of 
prisoners. Of the latter there were about one hundred 
and fifty in the Richard. 

The pilot-boat had hardly left the Richard when the 
leading ships of a fleet of more than forty sails were seen 
stretching out on a bowline from behind Flamborough 
Head, turning down to the south. From previous intelli- 
gence this fleet was immediately known to be the Baltic 
ships, under the convoy of the Serapis, 44, Captain 
Richard Pearson, and a hired ship that had been put into 
the King's service, called the Countess of Scarborough. 
The latter was commanded by Captain Piercy, and 
mounted 22 guns. 

As the interest of the succeeding details will principally 
centre in the two ships, the Serapis and Bonhomme 
Richard, it may be well to give a more minute account of 
the actual force of the former. At that period 44's were 
usually built on two decks; and such was the constructioiT 
of this ship, which was new, and was reputed to be a 
fast vessel. On her lower gun-deck she mounted 
20 18-pound guns; and on her upper gun-deck 20 
9-pound guns; and on her quarter-deck and fore- 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 25 

castle ten 6-pound guns; making an armament of fifty 
guns. 

She had a regularly trained man-of-war's crew of 320 
souls, of whom fifteen are said to have been Lascars. 

When Jones made out the convoy, the men-of-war 
were inshore, astern, and to leeward, probably with a 
view to keeping the merchantmen together. The offi- 
cials at Scarborough, perceiving the danger into which 
this fleet was running, had sent a boat off to the Serapis, 
to apprise her of the presence of a hostile force, and 
Captain Pearson fired two guns, signaling the leading 
vessels to come under his lee. These orders were 
disregarded, however, the headmost ships continuing 
to stand out from the land. 

Jones, having ascertained the character of the fleet iu 
sight, showed signal for a general chase ; and another to 
recall the lieutenant in the pilot-boat. 

The Richard then crossed royal-yards. These signs 
of hostility alarmed the nearer English merchant ships, 
which hurriedly tacked, fired alarm guns, let fly their 
top-gallant-sheets, and made other signals of the danger 
they found themselves in ; while they now gludly 
availed themselves of the presence of the men-of-war 
to run to leeward, or else seek shelter close in with the 
land. 

The Serapis, on the contrary, signaled the Scar- 
borough to follow, and hauled boldly out to sea, until she 
got far enough to windward, when she tacked, and stood 
inshore again, to cover her convoy. 

The Alliance being much the fastest vessel of the 
American squadron, took the lead in the chase, speaking 
the Pallas as she passed. It has been proved that 
Captain Landais told the commander of the latter vessel, 
on this occasion, that if the stranger proved to be a 



26 SERAPIS AND BONllOiMME RICHARD. 

fifty-gun ship, they had nothing to do but to escape. 
His subsequent conduct fully confirms this ; for no 
sooner had he run down near enough to the two 
Euirlish vcssels-of-war to ascertain their force, than he 
hauled up, and stood off from the land again. This was 
not only contrary to all regular order of naval battle, but 
contrary to the positive command of Jones, who had kept 
the signal to form line flying ; which should have brought 
the Alliance astern of the Bonhomme Richard, and the 
Pallas in the van. Just at this time the Pallas spoke the 
Richard, and inquired what station she should take, and 
she was directed to fall into line. 

Captain Cottineau was a brave man, who subsequently 
did his duty in the action, and he had only thought that, 
because the Richard had suddenly hauled up from the 
land, her crew had mutinied, and that she was being run 
away with. Such was the want of confidence in the force 
so singularly composed, and such were the disadvantages 
under which this celebrated combat was fought. 

So far, however, from meditating retreat or mutiny, the 
crew of the Richard had gone cheerfully to their quarters, 
although every man on board was conscious of the force 
of the enemy with whom they were about to contend; 
and the spirit of the commanding officer appears to have 
communicated itself to his men. 

It was now quite dark, and Jones was compelled to 
use a night-glass, to follow the movemerts of the enemy. 
It is probable that the darkness added to the indecision 
of the captain of the Pallas, for even after the moon rose 
it was thick, and objects at a distance were seen with 
difficulty. The Richard continued to stand steadily on; 
and at about half-past seven she came up with the 
vSerapis; the Scarborough being a short distance to lee- 
ward. The American ship was to windward, and, as she 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 27 

slowly approached, Captain Pearson hailed. The answer 
returned was purposely equivocal, and both ships 
delivered their broadsides at almost the same moment. 

As the water was quite smooth, Jones had relied very 
much upon the eighteen-pounders which were in the 
Richard's gun-room; but at this first discharge, two of 
the six that were fired bursted, blowing up the deck 
above, and killing or wounding many of the people 
stationed below. This disaster rendered it impossible to 
make the men stand at the other heavy gims, as they 
could have no confidence in them. It at once reduced 
the broadside of the Richard to about one-third less than 
that of her opponent; and the force which remained was 
distributed among the light guns, in a disadvantageous 
manner. In short, the batde was now between a twelve- 
pounder and an eighteen-pounder frigate; with the 
chances almost preponderatingly in favor of the latter. 

Jones himself said that after this accident his hopes 
rested solely upon the twelve-pounders that were imme- 
diately under the command of his First Lieutenant, Dale. 

The Richard, having backed her top-sails, exchanged 
several broadsides, when she filled again and shot ahead 
of the Serapis ; which ship luffed across her stern, and 
came up on the weather quarter of her antagonist, taking 
the wind out of her sails, and, in her turn, passing ahead. 

All this time, which was about half an hour, the fire 
was close and furious. The Scarborough now drew 
near; but it is uncertain whether she fired or not. The 
ofBcers of the Richard state that she raked them at least 
once ; but her commander reported that, owing to the 
smoke and darkness, he was afraid to discharge his 
guns, not being able to make out which ship was friend 
and which foe. 

Unwilling to lie by and be uselessly exposed to shot, 



28 SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

Captain Piercy edged away from the combatants, ex- 
changing one or two broadsides, at a great distance, 
with the AlHance, and shortly afterward was engaged at 
close quarters by the Pallas, which ship compelled him to 
strike to her, after a creditable resistance of about an 
tour. 

Let us now return to the principal combatants : — 

As the Serapis kept her luff, sailing and workinj^ 
better than the Richard, it was the intention of Captain 
Pearson to pay broad off, across the Richard's fore-foot, 
as soon as he had got far enough ahead. But 
making the attempt and finding he had not room, he put 
his helm down, to keep clear of his adversary, and this 
double movement brought the two ships nearly in a line, 
the Serapis leading. 

By these evolutions the English ship lost some of 
her way, while the American, having kept her sails 
trimmed, not only closed, but actually ran on board of 
her antagonist, bows on, a little on her starboard 
quarter. The wind being light, much time was con- 
sumed in these manoeuvres, and nearly an hour had 
elapsed between the firing of the first gun and the 
moment when the vessels got foul of each other, in the 
manner just described. The English thought it was the 
intention of the Americans to board; and for some 
minutes it was uncertain whether they would do so or 
not, but the position was not safe for either party to pass 
into the opposing ship. 

There being at this time a complete cessation of the 
firing. Captain Pearson hailed, and asked whether the 
Richard had struck. "I have not yet begun to fight," 
was the answer from Jones. 

The Richard's yards were then braced aback, and the 
sails of the Serapis bein^ full, the ships separated. 



SERAPIS AND teONHOMME RICHARD. 



29 



As soon as they were far enough apart, the Serapis put 
her helm hard down, laid all aback forward, shivered her 
after sails, and wore short round on her heel, with a view, 
most probably, of luffing up across the Richard's bow, in 
order to rake her. In this po.sition the Richard would 
have been fighting her starboard, and the Serapis her 
port guns; but Jones, by this time, had become convinced 
of the hopelessness of success against so much heavier 
metal; and so backed astern some distance, filled on the 
other tack, and luffed up, with the intention of meeting 
the enemy as he came to the wind, and of laying him 
athwart hawse. 

In the smoke and dim light, one or the other party mis- 
calculated the distance, for the vessels came foul again, 
the bowsprit of the English vessel passing over the poop 
of the American. As neither had much way the collision 
did but litde injury, and Jones, with his own hands, imme- 
diately lashed the enemy's head-gear to his mizzen-mast. 
The pressure on the after sails of the Serapis, which 
vessel was nearly before the wind at the time, brought 
her hull round, and the two ships gradually fell close 
alongside of each other, head and stern; the jib-boom of 
the Serapis giving way with the strain. A spare anchor 
of the English ship now hooked in the quarter of the 
American, and additional lashings were got out on board 
the latter, to secure her opponent in this position. 

Captain Pearson, who was a brave and excellent officer, 
was fully aware of his superiority in weight of metal ; and 
he no sooner perceived that the vessels were foul than he 
dropped an anchor, In the hope that the Richard would 
drift clear of him. But, of course, such an expectation was 
futile, as the yards were interlocked, the hulls pressed 
close together, there were lashings fore and aft, and every 
projection aided In holding the two ships together. When 



30 SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

the cable of the Serapis took the strain, the vessels slowly 
tended, with the bows of the Serapis and the stern of the 
Richard, to the tide. 

At this time the English made an attempt to board, 
but were repulsed, with trifling loss. All this time there 
was a heavy fire kept up from the guns. The lower ports 
of the Serapis having been closed as the vessel swung, 
^o prevent boarding, they were now blown off, to allow 
the guns to be run out; and cases actually occurred in 
which the rammers had to be thrust into the ports of the 
opposing ship, in order to be entered in the muzzles of 
their proper guns. It was evident that such a state of things 
could not last long. In effect, the heavy metal of the 
Serapis, in one or two discharges, cleared all before it, 
and the main-deck guns of the Richard were almost 
abandoned. Most of her people went upon the upper 
deck, and a great number collected on the forecastle, 
where they were safe from the battery of the Serapis; 
continuing the fight by throwing grenades and using 
muskets. 

At this stage of the action, then, the Serapis was 
tearing the American to pieces, below, at each discharge 
of her battery ; the latter only replying to the English 
fire by two guns on the quarter-deck, and three or four 
of her twelve-pounders. To the quarter-deck guns 
Jones succeeded in adding a third, by shifting a gun 
from the port side ; and all these were used with effect, 
under his own eye, until the close of the action. 

He tried to get over a second gun, from the port side, 
but did not succeed. 

The fight must now have been decided in favor of the 
English, but for the courage and activity of the people 
aloft. Strong parties were placed in the tops, and, after 
a sharp and short contest, the Americans had driven 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 31 

every man of the enemy from the upper deck of the 
English frigate. After this they kept up so sharp a fire 
of small-arms upon the quarter-deck of the English ship 
as to keep it clear, shooting down many in the operation. 
Thus, this singular condition of affairs obtained, that, 
while the English had the battle very much to themselves, 
below, the Americans had control of their upper deck 
and tops. Having cleared the latter, some of the 
American seamen laid out on the Richard's main-yard, 
and began to throw hand grenades down upon the deck 
of the British ship ; while the men on the Richard's fore- 
castle seconded these efforts by casting grenades, and 
other combustibles, through the ports of the Serapis. 

At length one man, in particular, became so bold as to 
take up his post on the extreme end of the yard ; and 
being provided with a bucket of grenades and a match, 
he dropped the explosives upon the enemy, one of them 
passing down the Serapis* main hatchway. The powder 
boys of the English ship had got up more cartridges 
than were needed at the moment, and had carelessly laid 
a row of them along her main deck, parallel with the 
guns. 

The grenade which came down the hatch set fire 
to some loose powder on the deck, and the flash passed 
to these cartridges, beginning abreast of the main-mast, 
and running away aft. 

The effect of the explosion was awful. More than 
twenty men were instantly killed; many of them being 
left with nothing on them but the collars and wrist-bands 
of their shirts, and the waist-bands of their duck trowsers. 
This is often the effect of explosions in confined places. 

The official returns of Captain Pearson, made a week 
after the action, show that there were no less than thirty- 
three wounded on board then, still alive, who had been 



32 ?ERAPtS AND BONHOMME RICnARD. 

injured at this time; and thirty of them were said to be 
in orreat danorer. 

Captain Pearson reported that the explosion destroyed 
nearly all the men at the five or six aftermost guns of the 
Serapis; and, altogether, nearly sixty of the Serapis' 
men must have been instantly disabled by this sudden 
blow. 

The advantages thus obtained by the coolness and 
intrepidity of the topmen of the Bonhomme Richard, in a 
measure restored the chances of the fight, and, by lessen- 
ing the fire of the enemy, enabled Jones to increase his. 
And in the same degree that it encouraged the Americans 
did it diminish the hopes of the English. 

One of the guns, directed by Jones himself, had been 
for some time firing against the main-mast of his enemy ; 
while the two others were assisting in clearing his decks 
with grape and canister. Kept below decks by this 
double attack, where they had a scene of horror before 
their eyes in the agonies of the wounded, and the other 
effects of the explosion, the spirits of the English crew 
began to droop, and a very little would have caused them 
to surrender. From this despondency they were tempor- 
arily raised by one of the unlooked-for events which 
characterize every batde, whether afloat or ashore. 

After exchanging the ineffectual and distant broadsides 
with the Scarborough, as already mentioned, the Alliance 
had kept standing off and on, to leeward of the two princi- 
pal ships, and out of the direction of their shot, when, 
about half-past eight, she appeared, crossing the stern of 
the Serapis, and the bow of the Richard, and firing, at 
such a distance, and in such a way, that it was impossible 
to say which vessel would suffer the most. 

As soon as she had drawn out of range of her own 
guns, her helm was put up, and she ran down near a mile 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 33 

to leeward, and hovered about, aimlessly, until the firing 
had ceased between the Pallas and the Scarborough, when 
she suddenly came within hail, and spoke both vessels. 

Captain Cottineau, of the Pallas, earnestly entreated 
Captain Landais, of the Alliance, to take possession of his 
prize, and allow him to go to the assistance of the 
Richard, or else to stretch up to windward in the Alliance, 
and go to the succor of the Commodore. 

After some delay, Captain Landais took the very im- 
portant duty of assisting his consort into his own hands, 
and, making two long stretches, under top-sails only, 
he appeared, at about the time at which we have arrived 
in the story of the fight, directly to windward of the two 
ships which were locked together in mortal combat. 
The head of the Alliance was then to the westward. 
This ship then opened fire again, doing at least as much 
damage to friend as foe. Keeping away a little, she was 
Soon on the port-quarter of the Richard ; and some of 
the people of the latter af^rmed that her guns were 
discharged until she had got nearly abeam. 

Many voices now hailed, to inform the Alliance that 
she was firing into the wrong ship ; and three lanterns 
were shown in a line on the ofT-side of the Richard, which 
was the regular signal for recognition in a night action. 
An ofificer was then directed to hail, to command Captain 
Landais to lay the enemy on board ; and, the question 
being put as to whether the order was understood, an 
answer was given in the affirmative. 

As the moon had now been up for some time, it was 
impossible not to distinguish between the two vessels. 
The Richard was all black, while the Serapis had yellow 
sides ; and the impression among the people of the 
Richard was that Landais had intentionally attacked her. 

Indeed, as soon as the Alliance began to fire, the 

3 b 



34 SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

people left one or two of the twelves on board the 
Richard, which they had begun to fight again, saying 
that the English in the Alliance had got possession of the 
ship and were helping the enemy. 

The Alliance's fire dismounted a gun, extinguished 
several battle-lanterns on the main deck, and did much 
damage aloft. This ship now hauled off to some 
distance, always keeping the Richard between her and 
the enemy ; and then she re-appeared, edging down on 
the port beam of her consort, and hauling up athwart the 
bows of that ship and the stern of her antagonist. The 
officers of the Richard reported that her fire then re- 
commenced, when by no possibility could her shot 
reach the Serapis, except through the Bonhomme 
Richard. In fact, it appears that this Landais was one 
of those men who, for generations, affected the French 
character for seamanship and conduct in naval battles. 

There were, and are, many excellent French seamen, 
and as builders of vessels they are unexcelled. But 
some men, like Landais, at that time had destroyed their 
reputation afloat. 

Ten or twelve men appear to have been killed on the 
forecastle of the Richard at this time, that part being 
crowded, and among them an officer of the name of 
Caswell, who, with his dying breath, maintained that he 
had received his death wound from the friendly vessel. 

After crossing the bows of the Richard and the stern 
of the Serapis, delivering grape as he passed, this 
"lunatic Frenchman" ran off to leeward again, standing 
off and on, and doing absolutely nothing for the 
remainder of the fight. It was as if a third party, seeing 
two men fighting, should come up and throw a stone or 
two at them both, and then retire, saying he had rather 
the little fellow whipped. 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 35 

The fire of the Alliance certainly damaged the 
Bonhomme Richard, and increased her leaks ; and the 
latter vessel by this time had leaked so much through 
her shot-holes that she had begun to settle in the water. 
Many witnesses affirmed that this most dangerous shot- 
holes received by the Richard were under her port bow 
and port-quarter ;, or, in other words, where they could 
not have been received from the Serapis. But this is 
not entirely reliable, as it has been seen that the Serapis 
luffed up on the port-quarter of the Richard in the 
commencement of the action, and, forging ahead, was 
subsequently on her port bow, endeavoring to cross her 
fore-foot. These shots may very possibly have been 
received then, and as the Richard settled in the water, 
have suddenly increased the danger. On the other 
hand, if the Alliance did actually fire while on the bow 
and quarter of the Richard, as appears by a mass of 
testimony, the dangerous shot-holes may have very well 
come from that ship. 

Let the injuries have been received from what quarter 
they might, soon after the Alliance had run to leeward 
again an alarm was spread throughout the Richard that 
she was sinking. 

Both the contending ships had been on fire several 
times, and the flames had been extinguished with 
difficulty; but here was a new enemy to contend with, 
and, as the information came from the Carpenter, whose 
duty it was to sound the pump-well, it produced a good 
deal of alarm. 

The Richard had more than a hundred English prison- 
ers on board; and the Master-at-Arms, in the hurry of 
the moment, and to save their lives, let them up from 
below. In the confusion of such a scene, at night, in a 
torn and sinking vessel, the Master of the letter-of- marque 
14 



36 SEKAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

that had been taken off the north of Scotland, passed 
through a port of the Richard into one of the Serapis, 
where he reported to Captain Pearson that a few minutes 
would probably decide the batde in his favor, or carry his 
enemy down, as he (the Captain of the privateer) had 
been liberated in order to save his life. 

Just at this moment the gunner- of the Bonhomme 
Richard, who had not much to do at his quarters, came 
on deck, and not seeing Commodore Jones, or Mr. Dale, 
both of whom were occupied with the liberated prisoners, 
and believing the Master (the only other superior officer 
of the ship) to be dead, he ran up on the poop, to haul down 
the colors, and, as he believed, save all their lives. 

Fortunately, the flag-staft had been shot away, and as 
the ensign already hung in the water, he had no other 
means of letting his intentions be known than by bawling 
out for quarter. 

Captain Pearson now hailed, to inquire if the Richard 
demanded quarter, and Commodore Jones, hearing the 
hail, replied "No." 

It is probable that the reply was not heard; or if heard, 
supposed to come from an unauthorized source; for, 
encouraged from what he had heard from the escaped 
prisoner, by the cries, and by the confusion which 
appeared to reign on board the Richard, the English 
Captain directed his boarders to be called away, and, as 
soon as they were mustered, he directed them to take 
possession of the prize. Some of the Englishmen actually 
got upon the gunwale of the American ship, but, finding 
boarders ready to repel boarders, they precipitately 
retreated. The Richard's topmcn were not idle at this 
time, and the enemy were soon driven below again, with 
loss. In the meantime Mr. Dale (who was afterwards 
Commodore Dale) had no longer a gun which could be 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. \37 

fought, and he mustered the prisoners at the pumps, 
turning their consternation to account, and probably 
keeping the Richard afloat by this very blunder that had 
come so near losing her. 

Both ships were now on fire again, and both sides, with 
the exception of a very few guns on board each vessel, 
ceased firing, in order to turn to and subdue this 
common enemy. 

In the course of the battle the Serapis is said to have 
been on fire no less than twelve times ; while, towards its 
close, as will be seen in the sequel, the Bonhomme 
Richard had been burning all the time. As soon as 
order was restored in the American ship, after the 
gunner's call for quarter, her chances of success began 
to increase ; while the English, driven under cover, 
appeared to lose the hope of victory. Their fire 
slackened very materially, while the Richard again 
brought a few guns to bear. 

It was an example of immense endurance, on either 
side ; but as time went on, the main-mast of the Serapis 
began to totter, and her resistance, in general, to 
lessen. 

About an hour after the explosion, or about three 
hours and a half after the first gun was fired, and about 
two hours and a half after the ships were lashed together, 
Captain Pearson hauled down his colors with his own 
hands, his men refusing to expose themselves to the 
€re of the Richard's tops. 

As soon as it was known that the Enghsh colors were 
down, Mr. Dale got upon the gunwale of the Richard, 
and, laying hold of the main-brace pendant, swung 
himself on board the Serapis. On the quarter-deck he 
found the gallant Captain Pearson, almost alone, that 
officer having maintained his post throughout the whole 



•58 SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

of this close and murderous engagement, proving himself 
a man of great nerve and ability. 

Just as Mr. Dale addressed the English Captain the 
First Lieutenant of the Serapis came up from below, to 
inquire if the Richard had struck, as her fire had entirely 
ceased. Mr. Dale informed the English officer that he 
had mistaken the position of things, the Serapis having 
struck to the Richard, and not the Richard to the 
Serapis. Captain Pearson confirming this, his surprised 
subordinate acquiesced, offering to go below and silence 
the guns on the main deck, which were still playing on 
the American ship. To this Mr. Dale would not consent, 
but passed both the English officers at once on board the 
Bonhomme Richard. The firing below then ceased. 
Mr. Dale had been closely followed to the quarter-deck 
of the Serapis by a midshipman, Mr. Mayrant, with a 
party of boarders, and as the midshipman struck the 
quarter-deck of the prize, he was run through the thigh 
with a boarding pike, in the hands of a man who was 
ignorant of the surrender. Thus did the close of this 
remarkable sea-fight resemble its other features m singu- 
larity, blood being shed, and shot fired, while the boarding 
officer was in amicable discourse with his prisoners. 

As soon as Captain Pearson was on board the Bon- 
homme Richard, and a proper number of hands sent to 
Mr. Dale, In the prize. Commodore Jones ordered the 
lashings to be cut, and the vessels to be separated, hail- 
ing the Serapis, as the Richard drifted from alongside of 
her, and ordering her to follow his own ship. Mr. Dale 
had the head-sails of the Serapis braced sharp aback, and 
the helm put down, but the vessel did not obey either the 
canvas or the helm. Mr. Dale was so surprised and 
excited at this that he sprang from the binnacle, to see 
the cause, and fell, full length, on deck. He had been 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 39 

severely wounded in die leg, by a splinter, and undl that 
moment had been ignorant of the injury. He had just 
been picked up and seated, when the Master of the 
Serapis came up and informed him of the fact that the 
ship was anchored. By this time Mr. Lunt, the Second 
Lieutenant, who had been away in the pilot-boat, had got 
alongside, and came on board the prize, when Mr. Dale 
gave him charge, the cable was cut, and the ship followed 
the Richard, as ordered. 

Although this protracted and bloody contest had now 
ended, the victors had not done with either dangers or 
labors. The Richard was not only sinking, from shot- 
holes, but she was on fire, so that the flames had got 
within the ceiling, and extended so far that they menaced 
the magazine; while all the pumps, in constant use, could 
barely keep the water in the hold from increasing. 

Had it depended upon the exhausted crews of the two 
combatants the ship must soon have foundered; but the 
other vessels now sent men on board to assist. So 
imminent did the danger from the fire become, that all the 
powder left was got on deck; to prevent an explosion. 
In this manner did the night of the battle pass, with one 
gang always at the pumps and another fighting the 
flames, until about ten o'clock in the forenoon of the 24th, 
when the fire was got under. 

Before daylight that morning eight or ten Englishmen, 
of the Richard's crew, had stolen a boat of the Serapis, 
and made their escape, landing at Scarborough. Several 
other men of the Richard were so alarmed at the condi- 
tion of the ship that, during the night, they jumped over- 
board and swam to the other vessels. At daylight an 
examination of the ship was made. Aloft, on a line with 
those guns of the Serapis which had not been disabled 
by the explosion, the timbers were nearly all beaten in, or 



40 SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

beaten out, for in this respect there was little difference 
between the two sides of the ship. It is said, indeed, that 
her poop and upper-decks would have fallen into the gun- 
room, but for a few futtocks which the shot had missed. 

So large was the vacuum, in fact, that most of the shot 
fired from this part of the Serapis, at the close of the 
action, must have gone through the Richard without 
touching anything. The rudder was cut from the stern- 
post, and her transoms were nearly driven out of her. 
All the after part of the ship, in particular, that was below 
the quarter-deck, was torn to pieces; and nothing had 
saved those stationed on the quarter-deck but the 
impossibility of elevating guns which almost touched their 
object. 

The result of the examination was to convince every 
one of the impossibility of carrying the Richard into port, 
in the event of its coming on to blow. 

Commodore Jones reluctantly gave the order to remove 
the wounded, while the weather continued fair. 

The following night and a portion of the succeeding 
day were employed in this duty; and about nine in the 
morning the officer who was in charge of the ship, with a 
party at the pumps, finding that the water had reached 
the lower deck, at last abandoned her. 

About ten, the Bonhomme Richard wallowed heavily, 
gave another roll, and went down, bows foremost. 

The Serapis suffered much less than the Richard, as the 
guns of the latter were so light, and so soon silenced; 
but no sooner were the ships separated, than her main- 
top-mast fell, bringing with it the mizzen-topmast. Though 
jury-masts were erected, the ship drove about, nearly 
helpless, in the North Sea, until the 6th of October, when 
the remains of the squadron, with the two prizes, got into 
the Texel,the portto which they had been ordered to repair. 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 4l 

In this battle an unusual number of lives were lost; 
but no authenticated report seems to have come from 
either side. The English stated the loss of the Richard 
to have been about three hundred, in killed and wounded. 
This would include nearly all on board that ship, and was, 
of course, a mistake. The muster-roll of the Richard, 
excluding the marines, which roll was in existence long 
after, shows that 42 men were killed, or died of wounds 
very shortly, and that 41 were wounded. No list of the 
casualties of the marines is given. This would make a 
total of 83 out of 227 souls. But some of those on the 
muster-roll were not in the battle at all, for both junior 
lieutenants, and about 30 men with them, were absent in 
prizes. 

There were a few volunteers on board, who were not 
mustered, and so, if we set down 200 as the regular crew 
during the action, we shall not be far wrong. Estimating 
the marines at 1 20, and observing the same proportion 
for casualties, we shall get 49 for the result, which will 
make the entire loss of the Richard one hundred and 
thirty-two. 

It is known, however, that in the course of the action 
the soldiers suffered out of proportion to the rest of the 
crew, and as general report made the gross loss of the 
Bonhomme Richard 1 50, it is probable that this was about 
the number. 

Captain Pearson made a partial report, putting his loss 
at 117; admitting, at the same time, that there were many 
killed who were not reported. 

Probably the loss of the two ships was about equal, 
and that nearly or quite half of all engaged were either 
killed or wounded. 

In a private letter, written some time after, Jones gives 
an opinion that the loss of men in the two ships was 



42 SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 

about equal. Muster-rolls were loosely kept, in those 
days. 

That two vessels of so much force should be lashed 
together for more than two hours, making use of artillery, 
musketry, and all the other means of offence known to the 
warfare of the day, and not do even greater injury to their 
crews, must strike every one with astonishment But the 
fact must be ascribed to the peculiarities of the battle, 
which, by driving the English under cover early in the 
fight, and keeping the Americans above the chief line of 
fire of their enemy, in a measure protected each side 
from the missiles of the other. As it was, it was a 
most sanguinary conflict, with a duration prolonged by 
unusual circumstances. 

Great interest has always attached to this typical sea- 
fight. Scarcely any of the eye-witnesses agreed as to the 
facts. The principal information was given to Fennimore 
Cooper by Commodore Dale. Captain Pearson stated 
that the Alliance kept about them all the time, raking 
them fore and aft. This statement is contradicted by the 
certificates of the officers of the Richard, by persons who 
were on board the Alliance, by the persons who were in 
the boat, and by officers of the other vessels near. 

The First Lieutenant and the Master of the Alliance 
admitted tliat they were never on the free side of the 
Serapis at all, and their ship never went round her. They 
also said that they engaged the Scarborough, at long shot, 
for a short time; a fact corroborated by Captain Piercy. 
They added that their ship was a long time aloof from 
the fight, and that she only fired three broadsides, or parts 
of broadsides, at the Richard and Serapis. 

From the testimony it is likely that the Alliance injured 
the Richard much more than she did the Serapis. This 
does not detract from the merit of the gallant Captain 



SERAPIS AND BONHOMME RICHARD. 43 

Pearson, who could not have known that, and the prox- 
imity of the AlHance no doubt influenced him in inducing 
him to lower his flag. 

It is and always will be a matter of doubt as to whether 
the Scarborough raked the Bonhomme Richard before 
she was engaged with the other ships. 

Altogether, this was one of the most remarkable sea> 
fights on record. 

The arrival of Jones and his prizes in the Texel excited 
much interest in the diplomatic world. The English 
demanded that the prizes should be released and Jones 
himself given up as a pirate. The Dutch government, 
though favorable to the Americans, was not prepared for 
war, and therefore temporized. A long correspondence 
ensued, and the following expedient was adopted. The 
Serapis, which had been refitted, was transferred to 
France, as was the Scarborough, while Jones took com- 
mand of the Alliance; Landais having been suspended, 
and ordered to quit the country. Landais was afterward 
restored to command, but deposed again, on the ground 
of insanity; and eventually discharged the service. 



MBDAL AWARDED TO JOHN PAUL JONES BY THE AMERICAN CONGRBSS. 



WASP AND FROLIC. A. D. 1812. 




N November 13th, 181 2, the American 18- 
gun ship-sloop Wasp, Captain Jacob Jones, 
with a crew of 137 men, sailed from the 
Delaware, and ran off southeast, to get 
into the track of the West India traders. 
On the next day she encountered a heavy 
gale, and lost her jib-boom and two men 
who were upon it On the 17th, the 
weather having moderated somewhat, she discovered 
several sail, which were part of a convoy of merchant- 
men from Honduras, bound for England, under convoy 
of the British i8-gun brig-sloop Frolic, of 19 guns and 
1 1 o men, commanded by Captain Whinyates. They had 
been dispersed by the gale of the i6th, in which the 
Frolic had lost her main-yard. The Frolic had spent 
the next day in repairing damages, and by dark, six of 
her missing convoy had rejoined her. On Sunday, the 
1 8th, which was a fine day, the convoy was discovered 
ahead and to leeward of the American ship. Captain 
Jones not choosing to close during the night, as he was 
ignorant of the force opposed to him. 

The Wasp now sent down top-gallant yards, close 
reefed her top-sails, and bore down under short fighting 
canvas. The Frolic lashed her damaged yard on deck, 
and hauled by the wind, under her boom main-sail and 
close reefed fore-top-sail, hoisting Spanish colors to decoy 



46 WASP AND FROLIC. 

the stranger down, and permit lier convoy to escape. By 
half-past eleven the sl»ps were close together, and run- 
ning on the starboard tack, parallel, and not more than 
sixt yards apart. They then commenced firing, the Wasp 
her port, and the Frolic her starboard battery. The 
latter fired very rapidly, delivering three broadsides to 
the Wasp's two, both crews cheering loudly as the ships 
wallowed through the water, abreast of each other. 
There was a very heavy sea running, left by the gale, 
which caused the vessels to roll and pitch heavily. The 
Americans fired as the engaged side of their ship was 
going down, aiming at the Frolic's hull,while the English 
fired while on the crest of the seas, their shot going high. 

The water flew in clouds of spray over both vessels, 
which rolled so that the muzzles of the guns went under, 
but in spite of this the firing was spirited and well 
directed. In five minutes the Wasp's main-top-mast 
was shot away, and fell across the port fore and fore-top- 
sail braces, rendering her head yards unmanageable. 
Ten minutes after her gaff and mizzen-top-gallant mast 
came down, and by eleven o'clock every brace and most 
of her rigging was shot away, so that it. was impossible 
to brace her yards. 

But in the meantime the Frolic had suffered dread- 
fully in her hull and lower masts, and her gaff and 
head braces were also shot away. The slaughter among 
her crew was also very great ; but the survivors kept at 
their work with the dogged courage of their race. At first 
the two vessels ran side by side, but the American grad- 
uall}^ forged ahead, throwing in her fire from a position 
in which she herself received little injury. By degrees 
they drew so close together that the Americans struck 
the Frolic's side with their rammers, in loading, and be- 
gan to rake the British vessel with dreadful effect. 



WASP AND FROLIC. 47 

The Frolic then fell on board her antagonist, her jib- 
boom coming in between the main and mizzen-rlgging 
of the Wasp, and passing over the heads ot Captain 
Jones and Lieutenant Biddle, who were standing by the 
capstan, on the quarter-deck. 

This forced the Wasp up into the wind, and she again 
raked the Frolic, Captain Jones trying to restrain his 
crew, who were anxious to board, until he could put in 
another broadside. But they could not be held back, and 
Jack Lang, a seaman from New Jersey, leaped on the 
Frolic's bowsprit. Lieutenant Diddle then mounted the 
hammock-cloth, to board, but got his feet entangled in 
some rigging, and one of the midshipmen seizing his 
coat-tails, to help himself up, the Lieutenant tumbled back 
on the deck. As the ship rose to the next swell he suc- 
ceeded in getting on the bowsprit, on which were one or 
two seamen of his ship. But there was no one to 
oppose them. The man at the wheel stood grim and 
undaunted, and there were two or three more about the 
deck, among them Captain Whinyates and his First 
Lieutenant, both so severely wounded that they could 
not stand without support. There could be no more 
resistance, and Lieutenant Biddle hauled down the flag 
himself, at a quarter-past twelve — just forty-three minutes 
after the acdon commenced. Almost immediately both 
the Frolic's masts went by the board. 

Of her crew not twenty men escaped unhurt. Every 
officer was wounded and two were killed. Her total loss 
was thus over ninety, about thirty of whom were killed 
outright or died of wounds. 

The Wasp suffered severely in her rigging and aloft 
generally, but only two or three shots struck her hull. 
Five of her men were killed — two in her rnizzen-top, and 



48 - WASP AND FROLIC. 

one in her main-top-mast rigging, and five were wounded, 
chiefly aloft. 

The two vessels were practically of equal force. The 
loss of the Frolic's main-yard had converted her Into a 
brigantine, and as the roughness of the sea made it 
necessary to fight under very short canvas, her inferiority 
in men was fully compensated for by her superiority irr 
metal. She had been desperately defended ; no men 
could have fought more bravely than Captain Whinyates 
and his crew. On the other hand, the Americans had 
done their work with a coolness and skill that could not 
be surpassed. The contest had been mainly one of 
gunnery, and had been decided by the greatly superior 
judgment and accuracy with which they fired. Both 
officers and crew had behaved well. 

The French Vice-Admlral Jurien de la Gravl^re, 
commenting on this action, says: "The American fire 
showed Itself to be as accurate as it was rapid. On 
occasions, when the roughness of the seas would seem to 
render all aim excessively uncertain, the effects of their 
artillery were not less murderous than under more advan- 
tageous conditions. The corvette Wasp fought the brig 
Frolic In an enormous sea, under very short canvas, and 
yet, forty minutes after the beginning of the action, the 
Americans who leaped on board the brig found on the 
deck, covered with dead and dying, but one brave man, 
who had not left the wheel, and three officers, all 
wounded, etc., etc." 

The characterisdcs of the action are the practical 
equality of the contestants In point of force, and the 
enormous disparity in the damage each suffered. Numer- 
ically the Wasp was superior by five per cent., and 
iofiicted a ninefold greater loss. 

Captain Jones was not destined to bring his prize into 



WASP AND FROLIC. .'49 

port, for a few hours afterward the Poictiers, a British 74, 
hove in sight. Now appeared the value of the FroHc's 
desperate defence ; if she could not prevent herself from 
being captured, she had at least ensured her own recap- 
ture, and also the capture of her foe. When the Wasp 
made sail they were found to be cut into ribbons, and she 
could not make off with sufficient speed. The Poictiers 
soon overtook her, and carried both vessels into Ber- 
muda. Captain Jones and his officers and men were 
soon exchanged, and Congress voted them prize money 
for their capture ; while the Captain and Lieutenant 
Biddle were both deservedly promoted. 

4'b 



CONSTITUTION. A. D. 1813. 




FTER the declaration of war with Eng- 
land, on the 1 8th of June, 1812, Vice- 
Admiral Sawyer, of the British Navy, 
prepared a squadron at Halifax, and 
dispatched it, on July 5th, to cruise 
against the United States. This squad- 
ron was commanded by Captain Broke, 
of the Shannon, 38, an officer of great 
merit and experience, who had under him the Belvidera, 
36, Captain Byron, another excellent officer, the Africa, 
64, and the ^olus, 32. 

On the 9th of July, off Nantucket, they were joined 
by the Guerriere, 38, Captain Dacres. This squadron, 
on the 1 6th, fell in with and captured the United States 
brig Nautilus, 14, which, like all the brigs of that day, 
was overloaded with men and guns ; she threw her guns 
overboard, and made use of every expedient to escape, 
but with no avail. 

At 3 p. M. on the following day, when the British squad- 
ron was off Barnegat, and about twelve miles from the 
shore, a strange sail was seen in the southeast, or 
windward quarter, standing to the northeast. This ves- 
sel was the United States frigate Constitution, 44, Cap- 
tain Isaac Hull. When the war broke out he was in 
the Chesapeake, engaged in getting a new crew. Hav- 
ing on board about four hundred and fifty souls, he sailed 



tX)NSnTUtlON. SS 

on the 1 2th of July. His crew was entirely new, drafts 
«f men coming on board up to the last moment. Hull 
wrote, just before sailing, that "the crew are as yet 
unacquainted with a ship-of-war, as many have but lately 
joined and have never been on an armed ship before. 
We are doing all that we can to make them acquainted 
with their duty, and in a few days we shall have nothing 
to fear from any single-decked ship." On the i yth, at 2 
p. M., Hull discovered four sail to the northward, heading 
to the westward. An hour after, the wind being very 
light, the Constitution made more sail, and tacked ship, 
being in eighteen and a-half fathoms. At four p. m. the 
Constitution discovered a fifth sail, which was the 
Guerri^re. At about six o'clock the wind shifted and 
blew lighdy from the south, bringing the American ship 
to windward, and she immediately wore, with her head 
to the eastward, set studding-sails and stay-sails, and at 
half-past seven beat to quarters, intending to speak the 
nearest vessel, the Guerrlere. The two frigates neared 
each other gradually, and the Constitution, at ten p. m., 
began making signals. These were not answered, and 
the two frigates gradually drew near each other ; the 
Guerrlere discovered, on her lee beam, the other British 
vessels, and signalled to them. 

They did not answer the signals, thinking she must 
know who they were — a circumstance which afterwards 
gave rise to sharp recriminations. Dacres, concluding 
them to be Commodore Rodgers' American squadron, 
tacked, and stood away from the Constitution for some 
time before discovering his mistake. 

The next morning, soon after daylight, Hull had just 
enough steerage-way to keep the Constitution's head to 
the east, on the starboard tack. On his lee quarter, 
bearing northeast by north, were the Belvidera and 



54 CONSTITUTION. 

Guerriere, and astern the Shannon, y^.olus, and Africa. 
At half-past five in the morning it fell dead calm, and 
Hull called away his boats, to tow the ship to the south- 
ward. At the same time he got two long guns aft, and 
cut away the taffrail, to give them more room to work; 
while he ran out of the cabin windows two of the long 
main-deck 24's. 

By this time the British had followed his example, and 
had their boats out to tow. Soon, however, a light breeze 
sprang up, and the Constitution set all studding-sails and 
stay-sails. At this time the Shannon opened upon her 
with her bow-guns, but ceased when she found she did 
not reach the American ship. By half-past six in the 
morning the light breeze had died away again, and the 
Shannon began to gain on the Constitution, in conse- 
quence of most of the boats of the British squadron 
being set to tow her. Just then the Constitution sounded 
in twenty-six fathoms, and Lieut. Charles Morris sug- 
gested to Captain Hull to try kedging. This was 
adopted, and all the spare rope bent on to the kedges, 
paid out into the cutters, and then one kedge run out 
half a mile ahead and let go. The crew then clapped on 
and walked the ship up to the kedge — over-running and 
tripping it as she came to the end of the line. Mean- 
while, the other kedge and lines were carried out; and 
the ship thus glided away from her pursuers. 

At half-past seven a. m. a little breeze sprang up, and 
the Consdtution then set her ensign and fired a shot at 
the Shannon — the first shot of this remarkable chase. 
It soon fell calm again, and the Shannon began to near. 
This was a critical time, for, if the Shannon got close 
enough to disable in the slightest degree the spars of the 
American frigate, she must inevitably be captured. But 
about nine o'clock an air from the southward struck the 



CONSTITUTION. 55 

Constitution, bringing her to windward. The breeze was 
seen, freshening the glassy surface of the sea, her sails 
were trimmed, and as soon as possible she was brought 
close upon the port tack. The boats which were 
engaged in kedging dropped alongside ; those which 
belonged to the davits were run up, and the others lifted 
clear of the water by purchases from the chains and spare 
spars, so that they could be used again at a moment's 
notice. The Guerriere, on her lee beam, now opened 
fire, but, as it fell short, Hull paid no attention to it. 
Again, to Hull's vexation, it fell calm — it was, indeed, 
just such a summer's day as is often seen off the Jersey 
coast, when it seems as if the wind had died out forever — 
and he started two thousand gallons of water, and once 
more lowered his boats to tow ; having to use great 
exertion to keep the Shannon, which had most of the 
boats of the squadron, from gaining on her. Again a 
breath of air ruffled the water, and this time the Belvidera 
gained on the other British ships, and their boats were 
all put on to tow her. (Cooper says that this ship was 
the Shannon still, but Roosevelt, a very careful writer, 
says it was the Belvidera.) Captain Byron, of this ship, 
observing how the Constitution crept away from them, by 
warping, did the same thing ; and he even improved 
upon the operation by working two kedge anchors at the 
same time — paying the warp out of one hawse hole as it 
was run in through the other. Having men from the 
other English ships on board, and a lighter ship to work, 
he gradually gained upon the Constitution. Hull fully 
expected to be overtaken, but he made all his arrange- 
ments to endeavor to disable the first frigate before her 
consorts could come up. The English frigates, on the 
other hand, were deterred from coming very close, for 



56 CONSTITUTION. 

fear of having their boats sunk by the American frigate's 
stern-chasers. 

The Constitution's crew worked splendidly. Officers 
and men regularly relieved each other in the exhausting 
labor, the officers lying down on deck for a short rest, 
and the men sleeping at their guns. The Constitution 
rather gained, but the situadon continued critical. The 
British ships continued towing and kedging, barely out of 
gun-shot, all the afternoon, the few light puffs of air being 
carefully watched, and made the most of by both sides. 
At seven in the evening, it being dead calm again, the 
towing and kedging was renewed, the men being much 
worn by their continued exertions. But partial breezes 
during the night gave them some rest, and at daylight 
the Belvidera was off the Constitution's lee beam, with 
a light breeze from the southeast. The yEolus was also 
well up, but the wind now freshened, and the Constitu- 
tion and the English frigates were soon running off on 
the starboard tack, with every stitch of sail set. The 
Africa was so far to leeward as to be out of the race. At 
nine in the morning an American merchant ship hove in 
sight, and came down toward the English squadron. The 
Belvidera hoisted the American colors, as a decoy, but 
the Constitution immediately hoisted the British flag, and 
the merchant vessel hauled off. At noon Hull found he 
had dropped all the British ships. The Belvidera was the 
nearest, being in his wake, and at least two miles and 
a-half off. The Shannon was to leeward, and much 
further off; ajid the others were five miles off, on the lee 
quarter. The breeze freshened, and the Constitution's 
sails being watched and trimmed with consummate skill, 
she continued to draw away from her pursuers, so tliat 
at daylight the next morning the nearest was four miies 
astern. Soon after there were indications of a heavy 



CONSTITUTION. WT 

thunder squall, and the indefatigable Hull again had an 
opportunity to show that he excelled in seamanship even 
the able English captains who were pitted against him. 
The crew of the Constitution went to their stations for 
working ship, and everything was kept fast until the last 
moment. Just before the squall struck the ship sail was 
handsomely reduced ; but as soon as Hull got the weight 
of the wind he sheeted home, set his fore and main top- 
gallant-sails, and was off on an easy bowline, at the rate 
of eleven knots an hour. The British vessels, seeing 
him reduce sail, began to let go, clew up and haul down, 
without waiting for the wind, and were steering on 
different tacks when the first gust struck them. 

When the squall passed over the Belvidera had fallen 
much astern, and to leeward, while the other ships were 
nearly hull down. The wind now fell light and baffling, 
but Hull had the sails continually wet down, and contin- 
ued to draw away from his pertinacious pursuers, so that 
on the morning of the 20th, being almost out of sight 
astern, they abandoned the chase. On July 26th the 
Constitution reached Boston. 

" In this chase Hull was matched against five British 
captains, two of whom. Broke and Byron, were fully 
equal to any in their navy; and while they showed great 
perseverance, good seamanship, and ready imitation, there 
can be no doubt that the palm in every way belongs to 
the cool old Yankee. Every daring expedient known to 
the most perfect seamanship was tried, and tried with 
success ; and no victorious fight could reflect more credit 
on the conqueror than this three days' chase did on Hull. 
Later, on two occasions, the Constitution proved herself 
far superior in gunnery to the average British frigate ; 
this time her officers and men showed that they could 
handle the sails as well as they could the guns. Hull 



S8 CONSTITUTION. 

out-manoeuvred Broke and Byron as cleverly as, a month 
later, he out-fought Dacres. His successful escape and 
victorious fight were both performed in a way that place 
him above any single-ship captain of the war." 

Hull left Boston, in the Constitution, on August 2d, 
and stood off to the eastward. Falling in with nothing, 
she took a turn to the Bay of Fundy, the coast of Nova 
Scotia, and Newfoundland, and finally, took up a station 
off Cape Race, where she took two brigs. As they were 
of small value, Hull burned them. On the 15th of 
August she re-captured an American brig from the 
British ship-sloop Avenger. The latter escaped, but 
Hull manned his prize, and sent her in. Soon after this 
he spoke a Salem privateer, which gave him information 
of a British frigate cruising to the southward. He made 
sail in that direction, and at 2 p. m. of August 19th, in 
latitude 4i°3o' north, and 55° west, he made out a large 
sail to the east-southeast, and to leeward, which proved 
to be his old acquaintance, the frigate Guerriere, Captain 
Dacres. 

It was a cloudy day, and the wind was blowing fresh 
from the northwest. The Guerriere was by the wind, on 
the starboard tack, under easy canvas. She hauled up 
her courses, took in her top-gallant-sails, and at half-past 
four backed her main-top-sail, to wait for her enemy. 
Hull then began to shorten sail, taking in top-gallant- 
sails, stay-sails, and flying jib, sending down his royal- 
yards, and placing a reef in his top-sails. The English 
ship then hoisted three ensigns, upon which Hull set his 
colors, one at each masthead, and one at the mizzen- 
peak. 

The Constitution was running down with the wind 
nearly aft. The Guerriere was on the starboard tack, 
and at five o'clock opened with her weather guns, but 



CONSTITUTION. 59 

the shot fell short. She then wore round, and fired her 
port broadside, of which two shot struck the Constitution, 
the rest passing over and through her rigging. As the 
British frigate again wore, to open with her starboard 
battery, the Constitution yawed a little, and fired two or 
three of her bow guns. The Guerriere repeated her 
manoeuvre three or four times, wearing and firing alter- 
nate broadsides, but with little or no effect, while the 
Constitution each time yawed, to prevent being raked, 
and occasionally she fired one of her bow guns. This 
continued for nearly an hour, as the ships were very far 
apart when the action commenced, and hardly any loss 
or damage was as yet inflicted by either party. At six the 
Guerriere bore up, and ran off, under her top-sails and 
jib, with the wind astern, or a little on the port quarter ; 
when the Constitution set her main-top-gallant-sail and 
foresail, and in a few minutes closed within less than pistol 
shot, on her adversary's port beam. A furious cannonade 
now ensued, each ship firing as her guns bore. At 
twenty minutes past six the ships were fairly abreast, and 
the Constitution shot away the Guerriere's mizzen-mast, 
which fell over her starboard quarter, knocking a large 
hole in her counter, and bringing the ship round against 
her helm. Hitherto the English vessel had suffered very 
greatly, and the Constitution scarcely at all. The latter, 
finding that she was ranging ahead, put her helm aport, 
and luffed short round her enemy's bows, delivering a 
heavy raking fire with her starboard guns, and shooting 
away the Guerriere's main-yard. Then she wore, and 
again passed her enemy's bows, raking the Guerriere 
with her port battery. The Guerriere's mizzen-mast, 
dragging in the water, had by this time pulled her bow 
round till the wind came on her starboard quarter ; and 
so near were the two ships that the Englishman's bow- 



60 GONSTITUTION. 

Sprit passed diagonally over the Constitution's quarter- 
deck, and as the latter ship fell off, It got foul of her 
mizzen rigging, so that the ships lay with the Guerrl^re's 
starboard bow against the Constitution's port, or lee 
quarter-gallery. 

The bow guns of the English frigate now made great 
havoc in Captain Hull's cabin, which was set on fire by 
the close discharges, but the flames were soon extin- 
guished. Both sides now called away boarders, and the 
British crew ran forward on their forecastle, but Captain 
Dacres gave up the idea of boarding when he saw the 
crowds of men on the American's decks. The Constitu- 
tion's boarders and marines had gathered aft, but such a 
heavy sea was running that they could not gain the Guer- 
riere's forecastle. A close musketry fire was now kept 
Lip, and almost the entire loss of the Constitution 
occurred at this time. Lieutenant Bush, of that ship's 
marines, sprang on the taffrall, to board, and was shot 
dead. Mr. Morris, the First Lieutenant, and the Master, 
Mr. Alwyn, both of whom had leaped upon the taffrall, 
to head the boarders, were wounded at this time, by 
musketry. The Guerriere suffered still more; most of 
the men on her forecastle being killed or wounded. 
Captain Dacres himself was wounded, by a musket ball 
from the Constitution's mizzen-top, while he was stand- 
ing on the hammocks, cheering on his crew. Two of his 
Lieutenants and his Master were also shot down. Lying 
thus, the ships gradually worked round till the wind was 
once more on the port quarter, when they separated, and 
the Gucrrl^re's fore and main-masts both went over the 
side at once, falling on the starboard side, leaving her a 
sheer hulk, rolling her main-deck guns into the water. 
It was now half-past six, and the Constitution boarded 
her tacks, ran off a litde way to the eastward, and lay to. 



CONSTITUTION. '61 

A few minutes were now occupied in splicing and reev- 
ing new running rigging, which had been much cut. 

Captain Hull then stood down under his adversary's 
lee, and the latter immediately struck. It was then just 
seven p. m., and exacdy two hours from the time the first 
shot was fired. On the part of the Constitution, how- 
ever, the actual fighting, exclusive of the six or eight 
guns fired during the first hour, while closing, occupied 
less than thirty minutes. 

This account of the acdon is taken from Roosevelt, and 
we shall proceed to make some extracts from his ju- 
dicious remarks upon the battle. 

The Constitution had on board four hundred and fifty- 
six men, while of the Guerriere's crew, two hundred and 
sixty-seven prisoners were received on board the Con- 
stitution. Deducting ten Americans who would not fight, 
and adding fifteen killed outright, we get two hundred 
and seventy-two. Twenty-eight of her crew were absent 
in prizes. 

The loss of the Constitution was seven killed and 
seven wounded, and almost all this loss occurred from 
musketry, while the ships were foul. 

The Guerriere lost twenty-three killed and fifty-six 
wounded. Roosevelt thus sums up: Constitution, 1576 
tons; comparative force one hundred; comparative loss 
inflicted one hundred. Guerriere, 1338 tons; compara- 
tive force seventy ; comparative loss inflicted eighteen. 

The Third Lieutenant of the Constitution was sent on 
board the prize, and the American frigate lay by her 
during the night. At daylight she was found to be in 
danger of sinking, and Captain Hull at once began 
removing the prisoners; and at three o'clock in the after- 
noon set the Guerriere on fire, when she vei*y shortly 
blew up. 



62 CONSTITUTION. 

He then made sail for Boston, where he arrived on the 
30th of August. 

" Captain Hull and his officers," writes Captain Dacres, 
in his official letter, "have treated us hke brave and 
generous enemies; the greatest care has been taken 
that we should not lose the smallest trifle." 

The British journals and naval historians laid very great 
stress on the rotten and decayed condition of the Guer- 
riere; mentioning particularly that the main-mast fell 
solely because of the weight of the falling fore-mast. 
But until the action took place she was considered a very 
fine ship. Dacres declared, some time before, that she 
could take a ship in half the time the Shannon could. 
The fall of her main-mast occurred when the fipfht was 
practically over; it had no influence whatever on the 
conflict. " It was also asserted that the Guerriere's powder 
was bad ; but on no authority. Her first broadside fell 
short; * * * * but none of these causes account 
for the fact that her shot did not hit. Her opponent was 
of such superior force — nearly in the proportion of three 
to two — that success would have been very difficult in 
any event, and no one can doubt the gallantry and pluck 
with which the British ship was fought; but the execution 
was very greatly disproportioned to the force. 

The gunnery of the Guerrlere was very poor, and that 
of the Constitution excellent. During the few minutes 
the ships were yard-arm and yard-arm, the latter was not 
hulled once, while no less than thirty of her shot took 
effect on the Guerriere's engaged side, underneath the 
water line. The Guerrlere, moreover, was out-manoeu- 
vred. Lord Howard Douglass says, "in wearing several 
times and exchanging broadsides in such rapid and con- 
tinual changes of position, her fire was much more harm- 
less than it would have been if she had kept more steady." 



CONSTITUTION. 63 

The Constitution was faultlessly handled. Captain Hull 
displayed the coolness and skill of a veteran, in the way 
in which he managed, first to avoid being raked, and 
then to improve the advantage which the precision and 
rapidity of his fire had gained. 

Cooper says, "After making every allowance claimed 
by the enemy, the character of this victory is not essentially 
altered. Its peculiarities were a fine display of seaman- 
ship in the approach, extraordinary efficiency in the 
attack, and great readiness in repairing damages; all of 
which denote cool and capable officers, with an expert 
and trained crew; in a word, a disciplined man-of-war." 
The disparity of force, lo to 7, is not enough to account 
for the disparity of execution, 10 to 2. Of course, some- 
thing must be allowed for the decayed state of the 
Englishman's masts, although it probably had not any real 
influence upon the batde, for he was beaten when the 
main-mast fell It must be remembered, on the other 
hand, that the American crew were absolutely new, and 
unaccustomed to a fighting ship, while the Guerridre was 
manned by old hands. So that, while admitting and 
admiring the gallantry, and, on the whole, the seaman- 
ship, of Captain Dacres and his crew, and acknowledging 
that he fought at a disadvantage, especially in being 
short-handed, yet it must be acknowledged that the 
combat showed a marked superiority, particularly In 
gunnery, on the part of the Americajis, Had the ships 
not come foul, Captain Hull would probably not have 
lost more than three or four men; as it was, he suffered 
but slightly. That the Guerriere was not so weak as she 
was represented to be, can be gathered from the fact that 
she mounted two more main-deck guns than the rest of 
her class; thus carrying on her main-deck 30 long 18- 
pounders in battery, to oppose to the 30 long 24' s, or 



64 CONSTITUTION. 

rather (allowing for the short weight of §hot), long 22's 
of the Constitution. 

"Characteristically enough, James, though he carefully 
reckons in the long bow-chasers in the bridle-ports of 
the Argus and Enterprise', yet refuses to count the two 
long eigh teens mounte , through the bridle-ports on the 
Guerriere's main-deck. Now, as it turned out, these two 
bow-guns were used very effectively when the ships got 
foul, and caused more damage and loss than all of the 
other main-deck guns put together." 

Captain Dacres, very much to his credit, allowed the 
ten Americans he Fhad on board to go below, so as not to 
fight against their flag, and, upon his court-martial, 
stated that ''he was very much weakened by permitting 
the Americans on board to quit their quarters." "Coup- 
ling this with the assertion made by James, and most 
other British writers, that the Constitution was largely 
manned by Englishmen, we reach the somewhat remark- 
able conclusion, that the British ship was defeated because 
the Americans on board would not fight against their 
country, and that the American was victorious because 
the British on board luoidd!^ 





PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE. 



LAKE ERIE. loTH SEPTEMBER, 1813. 



" September the tenth, full well I ween 
In eighteen hundred and thirteen ; 
The weather mild, the sky serene ; 
Commanded by bold Perry, 
Our saucy fleet at anchor lay 
In safety, moored at Put-in-Bay. 
'Twixt sunrise and the break of day 
The British fleet 
We chanced to meet ; 
Our Admiral thought he would them greet 
With a welcome on Lake Erie." 



' Bold Barclay one day to Proctor did say, 
I'm tired of Jamaica and sherry ; 
So let us go down to that new floating town. 
And get some American Perry ; 
Oh ! cheap American Perry ! 
Most pleasant American Perry ! 
We need only bear down, knock, and call. 
And we'll have the American Perry." 




RECENT and judicious writer, Theodore 
Roosevelt, in his "Naval War of 181 2,'' 
says, "The victory of Lake Erie was 
most important, both in its material 
results and in its moral effect. It gave 
us complete command of all the upper 
lakes, prevented any fear of invasion 
from that quarter, increased our prestige 
with the foe, and our confidence in ourselves, and ensured 



68 LAKE ERIE. 

the conquest of upper Canada; in all these respects its 
importance has not been overrated. But the 'glory' 
acquired by it most certainly has been estimated at more 
than its worth. Most Americans, even the well educated, 
if asked which was the most glorious victory of the war, 
would point to this battle. Captain Perry's name is more 
widely known than that of any other commander in the 
war. Every school-boy reads about him ; * * * * 
yet he certainly stands on a lower grade than either 
McDonough or Hull, and not a bit higher than a dozen 
others. * * * ♦ jj^^ courage with which the 
Lawrence was defended has hardly ever been surpassed, 
and may fairly be called heroic; but equal praise belongs 
to the men on board the Detroit, who had to discharge 
the great guns by flashing pistols at the touch-holes, and 
yet made such a terribly effective defence. 

"Courage is only one of the many elements which go 
to make up the character of a first-class commander; 
something more than bravery is needed before a leader 
can really be called great." 

"Captain Barclay handled his ships like a first-rate 
seaman. It was impossible to arrange them so as to be 
superior to his antagonist, for the latter's force was of 
such a nature that in smooth water his gunboats gave 
him a great advantage. In short, our victory was due to 
our heavy metal." 

"Captain Perry showed indomitable pluck, and readi- 
ness to adapt himself to circumstances; but his claim to 
fame rests much less on his actual victory than on the 
way in which he prepared the fleet that was to win it. 
Here his energy and activity deserve all praise, not only 
for the success in collecting sailors and vessels, and in 
building the two brigs, but, above all, for the manner in 
which he succeeded in getting them out on the lake. 



LAKE ERIE. 69 

On that occasion he certainly out-generaleJ Barclay ; 
indeed, the latter committed an error that the skill and 
address he subsequently showed could not retrieve. 

" But it will always be a source of surprise that the 
American public should have so glorified Perry's victory 
over an inferior force, and have paid comparatively little 
attention to McDonough's victory, which really was won 
against decided odds in ships, men, and metal. There 
are always those who consider it unpatriotic to tell the 
truth, if the truth is not very flattering." 

"Lake Erie teaches us the advantage of having the 
odds on our side; Lake Champlain, that, even if they are 
not, skill can soon counteract them." 

Oliver Hazard Perry, who derives his fame from this 
action, was born in Rhode Island, and entered the navy 
in 1 799 ; seeing a good deal of varied service. About 
the time that war with England became imminent he was 
promoted to the rank of Master Commandant, and was 
in command of a flotilla of gunboats in Newport and in 
Long Island Sound. The employment was not congenial 
to Perry, as he longed for a chance to distinguish him- 
self by some great action; and he saw others promoted, 
while he remained stationary. Failing to get command 
of a cruising ship, he applied for service upon the lakes. 
At last, in February, 1813, Commodore Chauncey 
obtained for him a command on Lake Erie; where he 
was to build two heavy brigs of war, to meet the force 
preparing by the enemy. These vessels were of 500 
tons each, to carry each twenty guns ; such was the 
emergency, that the planks of which they were built were 
often cut and put in the vessel on the same day. Ship- 
wrights and blockmakers, with their tools ; canvas, and 
ordnance, were sent five hundred miles, through a half 
settled country, to finish and fit out these brigs. 



■70 LAKE ERIE. 

While they were building Perry went over from Erie, 
by small boat and on horseback, and participated in the 
attack upon Fort George. 

The British soon evacuated the whole Niagara frontier, 
and some American vessels which they had detained at 
Black Rock were then towed up, by oxen and soldiers, 
against the strong current of the Niagara, into Lake 
Erie. There were five of them, and they safely reached 
Erie, where the squadron was fitting out. 

The enemy, having some years before begun the 
creation of a naval force on Lake Erie, had then complete 
control of that sheet of water, and a vastly superior force 
to that which Perry was taking to Erie. Great address 
and vigilance were required to get the little squadron 
there safely, and, although narrowly watched, with head 
winds, and himself ill, he got safely into Erie just as the 
British squadron hove in sight. Many of Perry's best 
men were ill at this time, principally from malarial causes, 
but the work was pushed on incessantly. 

When completed, the different vessels of his squadron 
were very unequally manned ; and the great want of 
seamen led to a great deal of correspondence and 
trouble, not necessary to be gone into at this late day. 
Of all the vessels, the Niagara is said to have had the 
best crew. 

Perry at last got his squadron out into the lake, after 
lifting the heavy vessels over the bar at Erie with 
** camels " — a very difficult operation. 

The weather and the drinking water had seriously 
affected a large number of his not too numerous force, 
but he went on, as if convinced of success. 

On the 31st of August, at Put-in Bay, Perry received 
from General Harrison a reinforcement of one hundred 
«en, which, after deducting deaths and disabilities, carried 



LAKE ERIE. 71 

the total of his muster-roll to four hundred and ninety 
officers and men. Some of the men received from 
Harrison were boatmen, but the major part were to 
serve as marines. They came from the Kentucky 
militia, and from the 28 th Regular regiment, and were 
all volunteers for this duty. 

At this time the enemy did not seem disposed to accept 
battle in the open lake. 

On September 4th Perry sent the Ohio to Erie, for 
provisions and stores, with orders to hasten back ; and 
the next day — the squadron being then in Sandusky 
Bay — three citizens arrived from Maiden, and informed 
Perry that the British army under General Proctor 
being short of provisions, it had been determined that 
the English squadron should sail, and engage our's, and 
endeavor to open communication with Long Point, so as 
to draw the necessary supplies from that place. Perry 
at this time also received more accurate information as 
to the enemy's force. 

This consisted of the Detroit, a new and strongly 
built ship of 500 tons and 1 7 guns — all long, except two 
24-pound carronades; the ship Queen Charlotte, of 400 
tons and 1 7 guns — three of them long. These two ships 
had each a long gun on a pivot. Then came the 
schooner Lady Prevost, of 13 guns — three of them 
long; the brig Hunter, of 10 guns; the sloop Little 
3elt, of two long 12s and one i8-pounder; and the 
schooner Chippewa, with one long 18. 

This made sixty-three guns; twenty-five of which were 
long. 

This squadron was commanded by Captain Robert 
Herlot Barclay, of the Royal Navy, a veteran officer, who 
had served with distinction in several engagements which 
had raised the flag of England to the first place on the 



72 LAKE ERIE. 

ocean ; who had been at Trafalgar, with Nelson, and 
dangerously wounded in that battle. More recently, as 
First Lieutenant of a frigate, he had lost an arm in 
action with the French. He was a man not only of 
approved courage, but a skillful seaman. The second 
in command was Captain Finnis, also a brave and expe- 
rienced officer — with others of excellent standing. 

Barclay had recently received a draft of men from the 
English ships at Quebec, and had one hundred and fifty 
men of the Royal Navy, eighty Canadian lake sailors, 
and two hundred and forty soldiers from the 41st 
regiment-of-the-line, and the Newfoundland Rangers; 
making, by their own account, four hundred and seventy 
seamen and soldiers, to which must be added thirty-two 
officers, making five hundred and two souls. 

The American vessels were the Lawrence, Captain 
Perry; the Niagara, Captain Elliott, each of twenty guns; 
the Caledonia, 3, Purser McGrath ; the Ariel, 4, Lieuten- 
ant Packett; the Trippe, i. Lieutenant Smith; the Tigress, 
I, Lieutenant Conklin ; the Somers, 2, Mr. Almy; the 
Scorpion, 2, Mr. Champlin ; the Ohio, i, Mr. Dobbins; 
and the Porcupine, i, Mr. Senatt. 

Of the American vessels, mounting altogether fifty-five 
guns, only the brigs Lawrence and Niagara could be 
considered men-of-war. The others were exceedingly 
frail, and had no bulwarks, and the carronades of 
the Americans, although heavy, rendered close action 
necessary. 

On the receipt of the intelligence of Barclay's move- 
ments, Perry sailed from Sandusky, and, on September 
6th, reconnoitred the enemy off Maiden, and seeing him 
still at his moorings, returned to Put-in Bay, which place 
afforded every faciHty for observing his movements. 
Here the last preparations for battle were made, and the 



LAKE ERIE. , 73 

last instructions given ; the officers being summoned on 
board the Lawrence for that purpose. 

Perry had had a battle flag prepared, a blue field, 
bearing, in large white letters, " Don't give up the ship," 
the dying words of the hero whose name the flag-ship 
bore. The hoisting of this at the main truck was to be 
the signal for battle. 

The young Commander had made every preparation 
he could, and his men had become thoroughly familiar 
with the guns; but a large sick-list was a great drawback. 
On the morning of the battle there were one hundred 
and sixteen sick ; but many of these went to their 
quarters. All the medical officers were ill except Assist 
ant Surgeon Usher Parsons, who had to attend to all the 
vessels. 

At sunrise, on September loth, the British squadroi? 
was discovered from the mast-head, bearing no^rthwest, 
and standing for Put-in Bay. 

Barclay had a clear passage to Long Point, and he 
could have avoided Perry, but he came out to fight, and 
bore down to engage, with a long day before him in 
which to fight a battle ; coming. Indeed, more than half 
way to meet his enemy on his own coast. This sets at 
rest any pretence that the English really felt themselves/ 
inferior in force — as has been alleged by British and 
other writers. The gallant Barclay made no such state* 
ment in his Court, after his return to England. 

As soon as the British squadron was reported, the 
Americans got under way, and beat out of the harbor, 
against a light breeze from southwest; sometimes towing 
with the boats. Some islands of the Bass group inter- 
posed between our squadron and that of the enemy, and 
some hours passed in this work — the wind being light 
and baffling. About__io a. m. Perry determined to we^f 



74 LAKE ERIE. 

ship, and run to leeward of the islands. His Sailing 
Master remarked that this would force them to engage 
the enemy from to leeward. Perry exclaimed, " I don't 
care ! To windward or to leeward, they shall fight to-day ! " 

The wind shifted suddenly, just then, to southeast, and 
enabled Perry to clear the islands, and retain the weather- 
gage. If he had surrendered this he would have enabled 
the enemy to choose his distance for his long guns, and 
rendered his own carronades less effective. But the 
lee-gage had some advantages also ; and Perry was a 
seaman, understood the situation, and was determined to 
fight. At lo A. M. the Lawrence cleared for action. The 
shot racks were filled, as were the rope grummets ; the 
men buckled on their cutlasses and pistols; matches were 
lit ; preventer braces rove ; the decks were wet and 
sanded, to prevent explosion of scattered powder, and to 
afford secure footing when the planks should become 
slippery with blood. 

The enemy hove to, m line of battle, on the port tack, 
with their vessels' heads to the southward and westward. 

The Americans approached at the rate of not more 
than three miles an hour, with fine weather and smooth 
water. There had been an early shower, after which it 
was a beautiful day. 

The British vessels were all fresh p?:nted, and their 
rigging tarred down ; and being hove to in close order, 
with the morning sun shining upon their broadsides, and 
the red ensigns floating above them, they had a warlike 
and imposing appearance. 

Our squadron bore down to engage, with the wind 
upon the port quarter, and it was seen that the Chippewa 
was in the enemy's van ; then the Detroit ; the Hunter 
third ; Queen Charlotte fourth ; Lady Prevost fifth ; and 
Little Belt in the rear. 



LAKE ERIE. T5 

Upon discovering this arrangement of the enemy's 
vessels, Perry re-modelled his line-of-battle, so as to bring 
his heaviest vessels opposite their designated antagonists. 
When the line was reformed he bore up again, the 
interval between the squadrons being then about six 
miles. 

He now produced his battle flag, and, mounting a 
gun-slide, asked, " My brave lads ! This flag contains 
the last words of Captain Lawrence! Shall I hoist it?" 
"Ay, ay, Sir!" — and it was at once sent aloft. 

The other vessels welcomed its appearance with three 
cheers ; and at this time many of the sick came up and 
volunteered for duty, stimulated, by their patriotic feelings, 
to temporary ability. As the ordinary dinner-time 
(always held as sacred to the men of the navy as pos- 
sible) would find them engaged, the noon-day grog and 
bread was now served out, and after that was disposed 
of, every one went quietly to his quarters. Perry 
carefully inspected each gun, and spoke to the gun's 
crew. Seeing some of the Constitution's old crew, he 
said, "Well, boys, are you ready?" The veterans simply 
touched their hats, and replied, "All ready, your honor!" 
This was at that time the customary mode of address to 
a commanding officer. Many of the men (as was the 
fashion then, in their " hammer and tongs " kind of 
fighting) stripped to the belt, retaining only their 
trowsers, and tying handkerchiefs round their heads. 
Perry smiled, and said, " I need not say anything to you. 
You know how to beat these fellows." And then he 
spoke a few words to his "Newport boys," who had come 
with him from his own home — the sons of neighbors. 
The words were quiet, few, and earnest. 

Now ensued a weary waiting, and silence, for a long 
hour and a half, as the squadron slowly approached the 



76 LAKE ERIE. 

British line, under a light air; the silence being only 
broken by an order, now and then, in a subdued voice, or 
the ripple of the waters, as the ship divided them. This 
inactivity before the crash of battle is always trying, 
and especially so on board ship ; and messages are 
then given to friends, and last instructions of many 
kinds. Perry wrapped his public papers in lead, to be 
thrown overboard in case of capture. He destroyed his 
private papers. 

The long suspense was at last broken by the blast of 
a bugle, on board the Detroit, and three cheers from the 
British line ; and at a quarter-before twelve the British 
flag-ship fired the first gun. It was aimed at the Law- 
rence, and fell short. The Lawrence was in advance, for 
some of the American vessels were dull sailers, and by 
this time much out of line. The second shot from 
the Detroit's long gun was fired five minutes later, and 
took effect upon the Lawrence, as she slowly bore 
down, in the lead. The English fire now began to be 
felt, and at this time the distribution of our guns in 
small vessels gave advantage to the heavy, concentrated 
broadsides of the enemy. 

Owing to the English superiority in long guns (the 
entire armament of the Detroit, with two exceptions, 
being of this description), their fire soon became very 
destructive to the Lawrence, and there were no other 
American vessels near enough to draw a part of it. 

To hasten the moment when his carronades would 
take effect, and enable him to return successfully the 
enemy's fire, Perry made all sail again, and passed the 
word, by trumpet, from vessel to vessel, along his line, to 
close up and take station. They did not all do so at 
once, however, and there was much trouble and recrimi- 
nation afterwards, in regard to the conduct of the Com- 



LAKE ERIE. '77 

mander of one of them. Meanwhile the Lawrence was 
suffering terribly, as she approached the enemy slowly. 
At noon Perry luffed up, and fired his starboard guns; 
but finding they would not reach, bore away again, and 
continued to draw nearer, very slowly, until a quarter-past 
twelve, when he opened again with his whole starboard 
broadside, continuing to approach until within about three 
hundred and fifty yards, when he hauled up on a course 
parallel to that of the enemy, and opened a most rapid 
and destructive fire upon the Detroit. So steady had 
been the approach of the Lawrence, in bearing down, 
and so unwavering the purpose of her Commander, that 
Barclay had apprehended an intention to board. Perry's 
object was only to get within effective reach of his 
carronades. It required great coolness and determina- 
tion to effect this, under the fire of the English long guns, 
as Perry was obliged to see his men killed, and his vessel 
cut up, without being able to answer until within distance 
for close action. Half an hour's exposure of the Law- 
rence to the fire of twenty long guns had caused great 
carnage and destruction on board of her. Nevertheless, 
she now commenced to fire with spirit and effect ; and, 
notwithstanding great odds, from want of support — having 
thirty-four guns almost entirely directed against her — she 
continued to reply, with steady and unwavering effort. 
In this unequal contest she was soon nobly sustained by 
the Scorpion and Ariel, which were on her weather bow. 
These vessels, being small, and but slightly noticed by 
the enemy, or injured by his shot, were enabled to direct 
their fire with sure aim, and almost without Interruption. 
The Commander of the Caledonia, with the same 
sense of duty and gallant spine which animated Perry, 
folio wt-. J the Lawrence into close action as soon as 
possible, and closed wlcn her designated antagonist, the 



78 LAKE ERIE. 

Hunter; but for some reason, which afterwards caused 
serious imputations against her Commander, the Niagara, 
which, when the action commenced had been within hail 
of the Lawrence, did not follow her down towards the 
enemy's line, so as to engage her proper antagonist, the 
Queen Charlotte. This was a great interference with 
the order of battle laid down by Perry, as the Captain 
of the Niagara failed to engage, at short distance, the 
adversary his orders required him to meet. The Queen 
Charlotte was thus enabled to contribute to a concentrated 
fire upon the Lawrence ; and the latter was forced to 
struggle against unexpected odds. 

Her first division of starboard guns was directed 
against the Detroit, and the second against the Queen 
Charlotte — with an occasional shot from her after gun at 
the Hunter, which lay on her quarter, and with which 
the Caledonia continued to sustain a hot but unequal 
engagement. 

The Scorpion and Ariel, from their station on the 
weather bow of the Lawrence, were making every effort 
that their small force permitted. 

The Niagara was by this time in a position which 
prevented her from firing, except with her long gun, and 
at the sternmost English vessel. The rest of the 
American vessels, all small, were then too far off for 
their fire to have much effect. 

With a force of thirty-four guns against her ten in 
battery, the Lawrence kept up the battle — with the aid 
of the Scorpion, Ariel, and Caledonia — for two hours. 
She fired with great spirit, and showed the good training 
of the men at the guns, until, one by one, these guns 
were disabled, and their crews killed or wounded. Her 
surgeon, in speaking of the action, says they fired all 
this time as deliberately as if at their ordinary exercise. 



LAKE ERIE. 79 

By this time the Lawrence's rigging was almost com- 
pletely shot away, sails torn to pieces, spars wounded 
and falling, and the braces and bowlines cut, so as to 
render it impossible to trim the yards and keep the 
vessel under control. If the destruction was great aloft, 
on deck it was terrible. Some of the best trained veteran 
English seamen had been firing at the Lawrence for two 
hours, at close quarters, until only one gun remained on 
board of her that could be fired. Her bulwarks were 
beaten in until round and grape-shot passed through 
unopposed. The slaughter was almost unexampled 
in naval battles. Of one hundred well men Vv^ho had 
gone into action, twenty-two were killed, and sixty-two 
wounded. 

The killed were hastily removed out of the way of the 
guns, and the wounded crowded together upon the 
berth-deck. It was impossible for Dr. Parsons, the only 
medical officer fit for duty, to attend to such a press of 
wounded. Bleeding arteries were hastily secured; 
shattered limbs supported by splints, and those which 
were nearly severed by cannon balls hastily removed. 

Owing to the shallowness of the vessels necessary for 
lake navigation, the wounded were all above the water 
iine, and liable to be struck again by balls passing 
through the vessel's sides. 

Midshipman Laub, while leaving the Surgeon, after 
having a tourniquet put upon his arm, was struck by a 
cannon ball, which passed through his chest. 

A Narragansett Indian, named Charles Poughigh, was 
killed in like manner, after his leg had been taken off. 

Perry had a favorite dog on board, a spaniel, which 
had been put into a state-room, below, to be out of the 
way. The confinement, the noise, and the groans of the 
wounded, terrified the animal, and at each broadside he 



iO LAKE ERIE. 

howled fearfully. During the action a shot made a large 
hole in the bulkhead of the room, and the dog thrust his 
head out, yelping for release, in such a ludicrous manner 
that the wounded lying about burst out laughing, in the 
midst of their suffering. 

Perry kept up the fire from his single remaining 
carronade, although he had to send down to the Surgeon 
for the men employed in moving the wounded, to enable 
him to man this single gun. 

At last the Captain himself. Purser Hambleton, and the 
Chaplain, Mr. Breese, helped to serve that gun, until it 
too was disabled. 

" Perry never seemed to lose heart, and kept up the 
courage and enthusiasm of those about him by his 
undaunted bearing. Calm and cool, his orders were 
issued with precision, and obeyed with steady alacrity, in 
the midst of the surroundinor carnaore. Sometimes a 
single ball, or a round of grape or canister, would kill or 
disable a whole gun's crew; but the survivors would 
exchange a glance with Perry, and then coolly step into 
their shipmate's stations. As long as he was spared 
they seemed to think that triumph was secure ; and they 
died cheerfully in that belief" 

In the heat of the fight Yarnall, the First Lieutenant, 
came to Perry, and told him that all the officers of the 
first division were either killed or wounded. Yarnall 
was himself wounded in the forehead and in the neck, 
and covered with blood, while his nose was dreadfully 
swollen by a blow from a splinter. Perry good-humoredly 
expressed some astonishment at his appearance, and sent 
him the desired aid. Soon Yarnall returned, with the 
same story, and Perry tlien told him, " You must make 
out by yourself; I have no more to furnish you." Perry, 
even at this critical time, could not help smiling at 



LAKE ERIE. 81 

Yarnall's appearance, for, in addition to his disfigured 
nose, he was covered with down of "cat-tails," from the 
hammock mattresses which had been struck, and which 
had adhered to the blood upon his face. Dr. Parsons 
describes him as looking like a huge owl. 

When he went below, after the action, even the 
wounded men laughed at his hideous appearance, and 
one of them exclaimed, " The Devil has come for his 
own." 

Another incident is characteristic of the calm cheerful- 
ness of Perry and his officers. Dulany Forrest, the 
Second Lieutenant (who died a Commodore), was 
standing immediately beside Perry, fighting his division, 
when a grape-shot struck him in the breast, and he fell. 
Perry raised him, and seeing no wound, for it was a spent 
shot, told him to rally, for he could not be hurt. 

The Lieutenant, who was only stunned, soon recovered 
consciousness, and pulling out the shot, which had lodged 
in his waistcoat, said, "No, Sir! I'm not hurt, but this is 
my shot." 

More than one man was shot down while actually 
speaking to Perry. One of these was the Captain of a 
gun, whose tackle had been shot away. Perry advanced 
to see what was the matter. The sailor, an "old 
Constitution," said, "I can fire. Sir," and was in the act 
of doing so, when a twenty-four pound shot passed 
through his body, and he fell at Perry's feet. 

Another incident illustrates the carnage on board the 
Lawrence. An excellent young officer. Lieutenant John 
Brooks, commanded the marines. He was remarkable 
for his good looks and amiable disposition. While 
speaking to Perry, he was struck on the thigh by a 
cannon ball, and carried some distance. He shrieked 
with pain, and implored Perry to shoot him — so great 



82 LAKE ERIE. 

were his sufferings. Perry ordered him to be taken 
below, and as this was being done, his servant, a mulatto 
boy, rolled upon the deck, crying out that his master was 
killed, but at an order returned to his duty as powder 
boy, the tears running down his face all the time, at the 
thought of his master's suffering. 

Perry's brother, a mere youth, had several shots 
through his clothes and hat, and was knocked down by a 
hammock torn from the nettings by a ball, but escaped 
unscratched. 

At 2.30 p. M. the last gun of the Lawrence had been 
disabled, and only eighteen persons of those on board 
remained unwounded, beside Perry himself and his young 
brother. 

It now became necessary for him to go on board some 
other vessel. The Niagara, as we have said, had kept 
well to windward, and had remained out of reach of her 
proper opponent, the Queen Charlotte, while the Cale- 
donia had borne down to the relief of the Lawrence, 
and had suffered much. The Lawrence's men had 
bitterly commented upon the manner in which the 
Niagara had kept aloof, when they were suffering so 
severely. As the last gun of the Lawrence became 
disabled, and the vessel, now an unmanageable wreck, 
was dropping astern, the Niagara was seen to be upon 
her port beam, while the Caledonia was passing the 
Lawrence's starboard beam, between that disabled ship 
and the enemy. 

Perry at once ordered his boat, saying that he would 
bring the Niagara up ; and adding that she did not seem 
much injured, and that the American flag should not be 
hauled down that day, over his head. He left the 
comiaand of the Lawrence to Mr. Yarnall, and stepped 



LAKE ERIE. 83 

down into the boat, calling to Yarnall, as he shoved off, 
" If a victory is to be gained, I'll gain it." 

When he left the Lawrence the Niagara was passing 
her weather, or port beam, " at a distance of nearly half 
a mile." The breeze had freshened, her main-top-sail 
filled, and she was passing the British squadron rapidly. 
Standing erect in his boat. Perry pulled for the Niagara, 
anxious to get a fresh battery in action ; being conscious 
that he had already much damaged the enemy. 

The latter, seeing his movements, soon penetrated his 
design ; and, apprehending the consequences of Perry's 
getting on board a fresh vessel — after the proof he had 
given them of his tenacity and fighting powers — imme- 
diately opened on the boat a fire of great guns and 
musketry, trying to destro)' the boat and crew. Several 
oars were splintered, the boat traversed by musket balls, 
and the crew wet through with the spray thrown up by 
round shot and grape, that tore up the water on every 
side. 

Perry, unmindful of danger, continued to stand erect, 
although his boat's crew besought him to sit down. At 
last he did so, and the crew pulled with a will ; but the 
breeze was now quite fresh, and it took him fifteen 
minutes to reach the Niagara. 

His passage was, of course, watched with breathless 
interest by both sides, as so much depended upon it. As 
they saw him cross the gangway of the Niagara, the litde 
group of unwounded men left on board the Lawrence 
gave three hearty cheers. These survivors now took 
heart, and felt that they had not sustained the long and 
bloody contest in vain. 

As the Lawrence's colors were still flying, she remained 
a mark for the enemy's shot, although unable to I'cply. 
To save further loss of life, Lieutenant Yarnall, ili^r 



84 LAKE ERIE. 

consultation with others, determined to surrender, and 
the colors were hauled down, amid cheers from the 
British vessels, which manned their bulwarks, while the 
men waved a triumphant defiance. But their triumph 
was short-lived. The first act of the play was over, 
with partial success remaining to the British ; the second 
was now to begin, and to terminate less favorably for 
them. 

On the berth-deck of the Lawrence the scene was at 
this time deplorable. Great despondency prevailed 
among the wounded, who shouted to those on deck to 
sink the ship rather than she should become a prize. 
Brooks was dying. Purser Hambleton lay with a shat- 
tered shoulder, received in working the last gun with his 
Commander. The single medical officer was hard at 
work, among the cries and groans of the wounded. 

But there was the reaction of hope and joy when the 
word was passed that Perry had safely reached the 
Niagara ; and he soon gave the enemy something else 
to do besides taking possession of the Lawrence. 

Elliott, the Captain of the Niagara, met Perry with an 
inquiry as to how the day was going. Perry said, 
"badly." He had lost all his men, and his ship was a 
wreck. He then asked Elliott what the gun-boats were 
doing so far astern. Elliott offered to bring them up, 
and at once left in a boat to do so, with Perry's consent. 
Perry afterwards stated that he found the Niagara un- 
injured in crew and hull ; and that from the moment he 
boarded her he felt confident of victory. 

His first order, on boarding the Niagara, was to back 
the main-top-sail, as she was running out of action. His 
next was to brail up the main-try-sail, put the helm up, 
and bear down before the wind, with squared yards, 
straight for the enemy ; or, in other words, at a right 



LAKE ERIE. • gg 

angle with the course he found her upon. At the same 
time he set top-gallant-sails, and made signal for close 
action. The answering signals were promptly displayed 
along the line, and greeted with hearty che'ers; as the 
bold manoeuvre of the Niagara renewed the hopes of the 
squadron. 

At this time the Trippe, which had been the sternmost 
ot the line, had closed up to the assistance of the 
Caledonia; and the other vessels, under the freshening 
breeze, now approached rapidly, to take a more active 
part in the battle-the second stage of which had now 
begun. 

It was then about forty-five minutes past two 
Seven or eight minutes, with the freshened breeze 
brought the Niagara down upon the enemy. They 
raked her once or twice, but she reserved her fire- and 
the Detroit, of the Bridsh squadron, made an effort to 
wear ship, to present her starboard broadside to the 
Niagara, seven of the English vessel's port guns having 
been disabled already by the Lawrence's fire. 

In this manoeuvre the Detroit fouled the Queen Char- 
lotte; and the Niagara, having shortened sail, passed slowly 
under the bows of the Detroit, at pistol-shot distance, and 
poured into both English vessels, as they lay entangled 
a deadly and destructive fire ot grape and canister. 

I he Niagara's port guns at the same time were 
directed, with equally fatal effect, into the sterns of the 
Lady Prevost and the Litde Belt; and her marines 
cleared the decks of their adversaries by their musketry 
Passing under the lee of the two English ships, which 
by this time had got clear of each other. Perry brought 
by the wind, on the starboard tack, with his head to 
the northward and eastward, and backed the Niagara's 
main-top-sail, to deaden her headway. In this position 



86 LAKE ERIE. 

he continued to pour his starboard broadside into the 
Queen Charlotte and the Hunter, which was astern 
of the Queen Charlotte. Some of his shot passed through 
the Charlotte's ports into the Detroit. 

At this time the small American vessels succeeded in 
coming up to windward into close action, and poured in 
a destructive fire of grape and canister. Unfortunately 
their shot, when they missed the English ships, took 
effect upon the Niagara. 

All resistance on the part of the British now ceased, 
and an officer appeared on the taffrail of the Queen 
Charlotte, to signify that she had struck, and her example 
was at once followed by the Detroit. Both vessels 
surrendered in about seven minutes after the Niagara 
opened her fire, and in about fifteen minutes after Perry 
had assumed the command of her. 

The Hunter struck at the same time ; as did the Lady 
Prevost, which lay to leeward, under the guns of the 
Niagara. 

The battle had begun, on the part of the enemy, at 
about a quarter before noon; and at three p. m. the 
Queen Charlotte and Detroit had surrendered, and all 
resistance had ceased. 

As the smoke blew away, the two squadrons were 
found to be completely mingled. The shattered Lawrence, 
which had borne the brunt of the hard fighting, lay to 
windward, a helpless wreck; but with her flag once more 
hoisted over her. The Niagara, with the signal for close 
action still flying, lay close under the lee of the Queen 
Charlotte, Detroit, and Hunter. 

The Caledonia, Scorpion, and Trippe, which had 
gallantly followed the Niagara through the enemy's line, 
had taken a position to leeward, favorable for preventing 
the enemy's escape. 



LAKE ERIE, 87 

The smoke cloud still passing away to leeward, the 
English vessels Chippewa and Little Belt were discovered 
bearing up towards Maiden, under a press of sail. The 
Scorpion and Trippe were at once sent in pursuit, and, 
after a few shots, compelled them to surrender. 

And now began the taking possession of the enemy's 
ships, a proud, and yet a melancholy duty, for some of 
them were In a pitiable condition ; though not worse than 
that of the Lawrence when Perry left her. 

The Detroit was a perfect wreck. Her gaff and 
mizzen-top-mast hung over her quarter; all the other 
masts and yards were badly wounded ; all her braces 
were shot away; not a single stay was standing, forward; 
and her heavy oak bulwarks were much shattered. 
Many 32-pouncl shot were sticking in her port side, 
which had been fired from Perry's carronades before the 
Lawrence got to close quarters. On the deck of the 
Detroit the carnage had been terrible. Many of her 
guns were dismounted, and the deck was strewn with 
killed and wounded, and slippery with blood, in spite of 
the "sanding down" preliminary to naval battles of the 
period. The deck was found nearly deserted, and in 
charge of the Second Lieutenant, the First Lieutenant 
having been killed about the middle of the action, and 
Commodore Barclay having been most dc-ngerously 
wounded, somewhat earlier, by a grape-shot in the thigh. 
After being carried below, and placed in the hands of the 
Surgeon, and his wound temporarily dressed, he insisted 
upon being again carried on deck. When the Niagara 
bore down and delivered her raking fire, Barclay received 
a second grape-shot in the right shoulder, which, entering 
just below the joint, broke the shoulder blade to pieces, 
and made a large and dreadful wound. It will be 
remembered that he had already lost an arm. In action 



88 LAKE EKIE. 

with the French. It is said tliat when, about the close 
of the action, a messenger was sent down to tell this 
unfortunate and heroic officer that the day was lost, he 
had himself carried once more on deck, to convince 
himself that further resistance would be unavailing. 

The other British vessels were also much cut up, 
especially the Queen Charlotte, which ship had lost, 
early in the acdon, her Commander, Captain Finnis, 
R. N., a brave and accomplished seaman. Her First 
Lieutenant was soon after mortally wounded ; and the 
loss of life among her crew was very severe. Her hull 
and spars were also very much damaged. 

The other British vessels suffered in like proportion. 
The Lady Prevost had both her Commander and her 
First Lieutenant wounded; and, beside other injury, had 
become unmanageable, from the loss of her rudder. The 
Commanders of the Hunter and the Chippewa were both 
wounded ; and this left only the Commander of the Little 
Belt fit for duty at the close of the action. 

In his official report. Commodore Barclay states that 
every Commander and every officer second in command 
was disabled. He reports his total of killed and wounded 
as, for the first, forty-one, including three officers, and 
ninety-four wounded, nine of whom were officers. These 
returns were probably not very complete, from the in- 
ability of the reporting officer to obtain information ; and 
the British loss was supposed to be much greater ; 
especially as the bodies of the British killed (with the 
excepdon of those of the officers) were thrown over- 
board as they fell. 

The shattered condition of the English squadron, 
which three hours before had presented a proud and 
warlike array, and had begun the battle with cheers, as 
if certain of victory- — hurling death and defiance at those 



LAKE ERIE. 89 

who had dared to brave the flag of England — Avas a 
most impressive contrast. When the Americans stood 
as victors on those blood-stained decks, human feelings 
at once took the place of the angry passions raised 
by the war, and by the immediate conflict. The prison- 
ers were promptly and humanely cared for. 

Our own vessels had suffered severely, as well as those 
,of the enemy. The Lawrence's loss has been already 
given, and it showed an aggregate much higher than 
any previously known in modern naval combat, unless in 
cases where the conquered vessel has sunk, with her 
whole crew. The Niagara lost two killed and twenty- 
three wounded ; all but two of the latter having been 
wounded after Perry took command. This is stated by 
the Surgeon who received them. The Caledonia had 
three wounded ; and the Somers two wounded. On 
board the Ariel one was killed, and three wounded ; 
while two were killed on board the Scorpion, and two 
wounded on board the Trippe. Aggregate, twenty-seven 
killed, and ninety-six wounded ; being more than one in 
every four. 

Two of the schooners, the Tigress and Porcupine, had 
no casualties whatever; and this, taken with the small 
loss of the Trippe and Somers, shows that, notwithstand- 
ing their efforts to close, they were unable to take any 
important part In the action until just before the enemy 
struck. The Trippe, although originally the last in the 
line, from her superior sailing, and the great exertions of 
her Commander, Lieutenant Holdup Stevens, was the 
first of the four sternmost small vessels to get into close 
action. 

From the fact that the enemy awaited the attack in 
close line of battle, his vessels were all equally available 



90 ,LAKE ERIE. 

from the first, and only a part of our squadron fought the 
concentrated British fire. 

The victory was a splendid one, and was pre- 
eminendy due to the exerdons of one person — a young 
man of twenty-seven, who had never before borne a 
part in a naval engagement. 

He dashed into action in the Lawrence, with youthful 
ardor, trusting that his rear would get up in time. The 
want of support of the Niagara caused the fearful loss 
sustained by the Lawrence, more than the tardiness of 
the smaller vessels. We have seen that there was no 
thought of submission, even at the darkest moment, and 
Perry's act in passing, at great risk, to the Niagara, 
cannot be sufficiently extolled. It was a combination of 
genius and hardihood, which snatched victory from the 
grasp of an enemy whose exultant cheers had already 
claimed it. 

Labor does not end with victory. After the enemy's 
colors had been hauled down, and the prizes officered 
and manned, the prisoners were confined, wounded 
masts secured, and shot-holes stopped, when all the 
vessels were hauled by the wind, on the starboard tack. 

Perry then redred to his cabin, to communicate to 
General Harrison the intelligence of the event which 
was to admit of the immediate advance of his army, and 
the rescue of our territory from the savage warfare 
which the surrender of Hull's army and subsequent 
disasters had entailed upon it. 

As far as the immediate seat of war was concerned, 
the Bridsh naval power was utterly destroyed, and a 
great and threatening danger removed. 

Perry's letter was short, but covered the whole ground. 
It was as follows : — 



LAKE ERIE. 



91 



"Dear General, 

We have met the enemy, and they are ours. 
Two ships; two brigs; one schooner; and one sloop. 

Yours with very great respect and esteem, 
O. H. Perry." 

He also wrote to the Secretary of the Navy, by the 
same express; — 

"U. S. Brig Niagara, 

OFF The Westernmost Sister, 

Head of Lake Erie, 

Sept. lo, 1 813 — 4 p. M. 
Sir : — 

It has pleased the Almighty to give to the arms 
of the United States a signal victory over their enemy 
on this lake. 

The British squadron, consisting of two ships, two 
brigs, one schooner and one sloop, hav-r this moment 
surrendered to the force under my command, after a 
sharp conflict. 

I have the honor to be, &c., &c., 

O. H. Perry." 

This letter, written without deliberation, in the moment 
of victory, is modest in describing his battle as a "sharp 
conflict;" and his allusion to the Almighty power was 
sincere, for Perry was a religious man. 

After sending off his despatches, he made signal to 
anchor, to enable him to provide for the comfort of the 
wounded, the better security of his prisoners, and the 
reorganization of his squadron. 

Seventy prisoners were placed on board the Somers, 
under Mr. Brownell. Forty were confined below ; and 
the rest seated upon deck, the crew remaining under 



92 LAKE ERIE. 

arms all night, in spite of the fatigues of the day. After 
distributing the remaining prisoners, Perry returned to 
the Lawrence, to do what he could for his brave shipmates. 
It was also proper that he should receive on board his 
own ship the surrender of the English officers, and thar 
the men who had done most to gain the victory should 
see the last act of it. 

Dr. Parsons writes, "He had returned, and was safe; 
but to a deck slippery with blood and brains, and strewn 
with the bodies of officers and men, some of whom had sat 
at table with us at our last meal; and the ship resounded 
with the groans of the wounded. Those who could walk 
received Perry as he came over the side; but the meeting 
was a silent and mournful one. 

"At the request of his officers he had, during the 
action, worn a uniform round-jacket, and he now resumed 
his uniform, and standing aft, received the officers of the 
different captured vessels, as they came to surrender. 
At the head of them was an officer of the 41st British 
Regiment, who acted as Marine Officer on board the 
Detroit, and who appeared in full dress, charged by 
the wounded Commodore Barclay with the delivery of 
his sword. 

" When they approached, picking their way among the 
wreck and dead bodies on deck, they held their swords 
with the hilts towards Perry, and tendered them for his 
acceptance. 

" With a dignified and solemn air, and in a low voice, 
lie requested them to retain their side arms, and inquired 
with deep interest for Commodore Barclay and the other 
wounded officers, offering them any comforts his squadron 
afforded." 

As it was impossible to reserve all the killed of the 
Lawrence for burial on shore, the seamen were buried 



LAKE ERIE. 93 

alongside, at nightfall ; the few survivors attending the 
ceremony, and the burial service being read by the 
Chaplain. 

It was a melancholy night on board the Lawrence, 
sleep being prevented by the groans of the wounded. 
Perry said he believed his wife's prayers had saved him, 
for he escaped untouched, as did his young brother, 
only twelve years of age, although the latter had several 
bullets throuofh his clothingf. 

On the day after the battle Perry removed to the 
Ariel, and sent the Lawrence to Erie, as a hospital ship ; 
but not before he had once more returned to her, to 
inquire after the wounded, and to i=in'courage them under 
the operations which Dr. Parsons had to perform. 
Beside the wounded, there were many ill with fever and 
diarrhoea. 

In the course of the day Perry visited Barclay, on 
board the Detroit ; and a warm and enduring friendship 
sprang up, at once, between them. Perry placed every 
comfort he could command at Barclay's disposal; and 
became responsible for a considerable sum of money 
required by the British officers. He also, at Barclay's 
request, advanced money to the army officers serving in 
the British squadron. 

At the very time he was doing this, cruelties were 
being exercised towards our countrymen who were 
prisoners to the English, so great as to lead to formal 
remonstrances and threats of retaliation. Just now it is 
the fashion to admire the English, and these things are 
forgotten, or ignored. 

To relieve Barclay's mind while suffering from his 
severe wounds, and with the hope that restoration to his 
friends and country would restore him, Perry pledged 
himself that he should be paroled ; and he made such 



94 LAKE ERIE. 

urgent representations to the Commissioner of Prisoners^ 
and to the Secretary of the Navy (making the favor 
personal to himself, and the only one he had to ask), that 
he eventually succeeded. 

While Perry was on board the Detroit, on his visit to 
Barclay, two strange beings were brought before him, 
who had been found in that vessel's hold, where they had 
been, without food, since the action. They proved to be 
Indian chiefs, ludicrously clad in sailors' clothes. With 
others, they had been taken on board to act as sharp- 
shooters, in the tops. 

Although probably brave enough in their own manner 
of fighting, these savages became entirely unnerved by 
the crash and destruction around them, and they fled to 
the hold, nearly frightened to death. 

The English, in both their wars with us, had a great 
penchant for the use of the Indians they could hire; and 
their barbarous allies frequently led them into conse- 
quences they had not foreseen. 

When these two Indians were brought before Perry, 
they expected to be at once shot and scalped ; and they 
were astonished* at his kind treatment. Soon after he 
sent them on shore, with a note to General Harrison, 
asking protection for them from our own friendly Indians. 

At nine a. m., on the morning of September i ith, the 
two squadrons weighed anchor, and soon arrived at 
Put-in Bay. The burial of the officers who had fallen in 
batde took place on the twelfth. 

The day was a serene and beautiful one, and the lake's 
surface was as smooth as glass. The boats, with colors 
half-masted, conveyed the bodies to the shore ; keeping 
time, with their measured stroke, to the funeral march. 

As usual on such ceremonies, when the procession 
r^^ached the shore, they formed in reversed order. The 



LAKE ERIE. 95 

.youngest of the killed was borne first; thep t)\r. lowes( 
in rank of the killed of the British squadron, and so on, 
alternately, an American and an English corpse;: — the 
body of Captain Finnis coming last. 

The officers fell in, two American and two English, 
according to reversed rank ; Perry himself closing the 
procession. The drums and fifes of both squadron? 
played the dead march, and minute guns were fired 
alternately from the captured vessels, as well as from the 
American squadron. The bodies were buried near the 
shore of the lake, and after the burial service they were, 
with due ceremony, lowered to their rest, and volleys of 
musketry closed the obsequies. 

It was a remarkable scene. Conquerors and conquered 
were of the same stock ; with the same traits, and the 
same language ; the burial service of the Church o( 
England sounding in their ears with equal familiarity. 

Some of the results of Perry's succtiss have been 
already given ; but we may say that his defeat would 
have given the enemy command of all the lakes; enabling 
him to concentrate his forces, in succession, upon different 
important points, and would thus have laid our whole 
northern frontier open to his incursions. 

His victory led to the immediate evacuation of Detroit, 
and the release of the whole Territory of Michigan from 
the horrors of fire, murder, and scalping, which the Indian 
allies of the British had carried there. 

Perry's victory also wiped away the stigma incurred in 
the inglorious surrender of General Hull; strengthening 
the hands of the Government, and giving encouragement 
to those who were fighting, both on land and by sea. 
General Harrison's army now invaded Canada in turn; 
the squadron assisting to convey his forces. 

This is not the place to recount Perry's subsequent 



96 LAKE ERIE. 

exploits as aid to General Harrison, or his participation 
in the battle of Tippecanoe, when he served with Cass, 
Shelby, Richard Johnson, and Gaines, who was then a 
Colonel ; nor of the consequences of Perry's endeavor 
to shield Elliott's conduct, in the batde with the English 
squadron. 

For this, and for Perry's subsequent service, and 
premature death, after distinguished services in Vene- 
zuela, we must refer the reader to the pages of our 
general history. 



ESSEX, PH(EBE AND CHERUB-VALPARAISO, 
MARCH 28TH, A. D. 1814. 




HIS naval action, fought in the vicinity of 
Valparaiso, during our last war with Great 
Britain, is so remarkable for the circum- 
stances attending it, and for the pertinacity 
of the American defence against superior 
force, that, although not a decisive battle, 
we have thought it right to insert it here. 
Few Englishmen would now attempt to 
uphold the breach of neutrality committed by the two 
English ships upon the Essex, with her anchor down upon 
Chilian soil, and with the Spanish flag flying upon forts and 
batteries within sight. But, as it was not the first, so it 
is not the last time that England has infringed such laws, 
where she has been able to do so with impunity. 

The United States frigate Essex, 32, sailed from the 
Capes of the Delaware October, 6th, 181 2, upon a cruise, 
the object and destination of which were kept profoundly 
secret. Her destination was the Pacific — still called the 
" South Seas " — the navigation of which was still com- 
paratively unknown ; new islands being constantly 
discovered, the inhabitants of which had never seen any 
other men than their fellow islanders. 

The object of the cruise was to destroy the " South- 
sea-men," or whalers, of Great Britain ; as well as the 



98 ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

traders of the same nation, and thus inflict a heavy blow 
upon a sensitive part of an Englishman — his pocket. 

The story of the cruise, by Captain Porter, the Com- 
mander of the Essex; with his passage to the Cape 
Verde Islands, the Coast of Brazil, around Cape Horn into 
ihe Pacific, and his operations there ; together with the 
incidents of his stay at the Gallapagos and Washington 
groups, and his numerous captures, read like a romance 
of the sea. Yet it is all true; and the account is written 
in a circumstantial manner, with day and date, by a 
genuine and successful sailor. 

This cruise is memorable for another reason — that 
Farragut, afterwards the greatest naval commander of 
his day, made his first cruise then, and witnessed his 
first naval action, while still a child, deporting himself 
with the coolness and gallantry which ever afterwards dis- 
tinguished him. 

David Porter, the Commander of the Essex, was born 
in Boston, in 1 780, and was at this time thirty-three years 
of age — that glorious period of life which combines the 
fire and ability of youth with the experience and self- 
control derived from contact with the world. He entered 
the navy in 1 798, and was a midshipman in the Constella- 
tion, in her action with the French frigate Insurgente, in 
February, 1799. He afterwards served on the West 
India station, as a Lieutenant, and had many conflicts, 
in the schooner Experiment, with the pirates and 
)rivateers which, at that time, and long after, infested 
those waters. In 1801 he was in the schooner Enter- 
prize, and, off Malta, he captured, after an engage- 
ment of three hours, a Tripolitan cruiser of fourteen 
guns. 

Soon after, in a boat expedition, at Tripoli, he was 
wounded for the second time; and in October, 1803, he 



ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. ;99 

was captured in the frigate Philadelphia, and remained >' 
prisoner until the war closed. 

He was made a captain in 1812, and appointed to the 
Essex. 

After the war with England, Porter became a membei 
Df the Board of Navy Commissioners, but resigned that 
post to take command of an expedition against the West 
Indian pirates. He was court-martialed for exceeding 
his powers during this cruise, and sentenced to be 
suspended for six months. 

Upon this he resigned his commission and entered the 
Mexican service as Naval Commander-in-chief. After 
serving there for some years he returned to the United 
States in 1829, and was made United States Consul 
General for the Barbary States. He was afterwards 
transferred to Constantinople as Charge d' Affaires, and 
soon became Minister Resident. 

He died in Constantinople, in March, 1843, and his 
remains were brought home in a man-of-war, and interred 
in the Naval Asylum grounds. 

And now, to return to the Essex and her cruise. All 
Americans should read Porter's account, which vies in 
interest with those of Anson or La Peyrouse, the differ- 
ence being that their sole object was discovery, while 
Porter had principally in view the crippling of his enemy's 
resources. His attack upon British interests in that part 
of the globe was entirely unexpected, and the unbounded 
rage of the English was excited when they learned, from 
prisoners sent in cartels, that such wholesale destruction 
was going on, and their trade being completely annihi- 
lated ; and they hastened to take means to stop Porter's 
career. 

The latter, In the meantime, was living off the enemy, 
showing the greatest activity and resource, maintaining 
L.ofC. 



100 ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

discipline under exceptional circumstances, and keeping 
his crew in good humor, with much tact and knowledge 
of sailor character. 

In those days no docks or dockyards were to be found 
anywhere south of the line. Ports were few and not 
much frequented, for fear of blockade. Necessary food, 
sea-stores, rigging and material for repairs were, indeed, 
as far as Porter was concerned, only to be obtained by 
capture, and it required a man not only of pluck and 
nautical ability, but of resources in many other directions, 
to make such a cruise as he did. At the last, through 
no fault of his, he was overwhelmed in a harbor which 
should have afforded him security, and the career of the 
Essex brought to an end by a shameful violation of 
neutrality. 

In the course of his cruise. Porter had seized and dis- 
armed a Peruvian corvette, which had been preying upon 
American whalers, and then sent her away with a caution. 
He had also seized and disposed of, in different ways, 
English " South-sea-men," aggregating 3369 tons, with 
302 men and 107 guns; had provisioned his own crew 
and partly paid his men, from the prizes. One of the 
latter, the Atlantic, he had fitted out for cruising, under 
his first lieutenant, Mr. Downes, re-naming her Essex 
Junior. This ship mounted 20 guns and was efficient as 
a cruiser against merchantmen and whalers, but was not 
expected to stand an engagement. 

Porter had sent Downes, with some prizes, to Valpa- 
raiso, and upon his return the latter reported that 
Commodore James Hillyar, an English officer of experi- 
ence, ability and courage, had been sent out in the 
frigate Phoebe, of 36 guns, to look for the American 
frigate, her work having caused great consternation when 
the news of it reached England. The English sloops 



ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 101 

Raccoon and Cherub were also despatched to the Pacific, 
under Hillyar's orders. 

The Essex being in much need of repairs after her 
long and stirring cruise. Porter determined to put her in 
as good condition as his resources permitted, and then 
seek to bring the enemy to action, if he could meet him 
on anything like equal terms. 

He, therefore, went to Nukahivah, or Madison's Island, 
in the Washington group, which had been discovered by 
Captain Ingraham, of Boston. Here he caulked his ship 
and overhauled the rigging, made new water casks, and 
took from his prizes provisions and stores for four months. 

On the 1 2th of December, 1813, he sailed for the coast 
of Chili, and arrived on Januar)' 12th, 1814, He could 
hear nothing of the British squadron reported to be 
looking for him. Some persons even supposed that they 
had been lost in trying to double Cape Horn. At this 
period Porter had completely broken up British naviga- 
tion in the Pacific, as those vessels which had not been 
captured by him were laid up, and dared not venture out 
of port. 

He had, in the meantime, afforded ample protection 
and assistance to our own ships. The English whale 
fishery was entirely destroyed, and now a squadron was 
coming out to look for him, involving very great expense. 
As has been said, he had lived upon the enemy, and had 
been obliged to draw no bills, but, on the contrary, had 
been able to advance pay to both offtcers and crew. 

Considering how much they had been at sea, his crew 
was very healthy, and he had had but one case of scurvy, 
then the curse of cruising ships. Two ofHcers only had 
been lost: the Surgeon, from disease, and a Lieutenant, 
killed in a duel ; while eight seamen and marines had 
been lost from sickness and ordinary casualties. 



102 ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

Porter believed that Hillyar would try to keep his 
arrival in the Pacific secret, and seek )^im at Valparaiso, 
and he, therefore, cruised in that neighborhood, where he 
hoped also to capture some merchant vessels expected 
from England. 

On the 3d of February the Esser. anchored in Valpa- 
raiso bay, and exchanged the us'j^^ salutes and civilities 
with the Spanish authorities. 

These appeared civil, and even cordial, and the gover- 
nor duly returned Captain Porter's visit. 

The Essex Junior was directed to cruise off the port, 
for the twofold purpose of 'intercepting the enemy's 
merchant vessels, and of infcrming Porter immediately 
of the appearance of any of their men-of-war. Then 
work began, to put the Ess^x in order, after which liberty 
was given to the crew. The people of Valparaiso showed 
great civility, and this ^an returned by an entertainment 
on board the Essex, in which the Essex Junior partici- 
pated, but kept a sharp lookout at the same time. They 
danced until midnight; and the Essex Junior then went 
outside. 

Next morning they had not had time to take down the 
awnings, flags and decorations spread for the party, when 
the Essex Jurior signalized two English ships in sight. 
At this time half the Essex' crew were on shore, on 
liberty. A gun was fired as a signal for their return, 
and the «>hip restored to her usual condition as soon as 
possible. Porter went out in the Essex Junior to recon- 
noitre, and found that both the English vessels ap- 
peared to be frigates ; returning at once, he anchored the 
tender near the Essex, and prepared for mutual defence. 
When he returned to his own ship, at about 7.30 a.m., he 
had the gratification of not only finding the ship prepared 
for action, but every man on board. He felt great doubts 



ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 103 

about the English respecting- the neutrahty of the port, 
but resolved to act upon therdefensive entirely. 

At 8 A. M. the two English ships, a frigate and sloop 
of war, came into the harbor. The frigate, which proved 
to be the Phoebe, ranged alongside the Essex, within 
a few yards, and between her and the Essex Junior. 
The Phoebe was seen to be all ready for action. 

Captain Hillyar hailed, and politely inquired after 
Captain Porter's health, and the usual compliments were 
exchanged between them. 

Captains Hillyar and Porter had been acquainted in the 
Mediterranean. Among the American officers at that 
time on the station, no British officer was so much liked 
as Hillyar, and his family was visited, at Gibraltar, by 
Porter and many others. On one occasion Hillyar's 
family had gone, as passengers, with Commodore 
Rodgers, from Malta to Gibraltar. The relations 
between the two Captains, thus brought face to face, 
with tompions out and matches lighted, were rather 
peculiar. 

Finding the Phoebe approaching nearer the Essex 
than either prudence or the neutrality of the port would 
permit. Porter called to Hillyar that the Essex was all 
ready for action, and that he should act on the defensive. 

Hillyar replied, in an off-hand way, "Oh, I have no 
intention of getting on board of you." 

Porter replied that if he did fall on board of him there 
would be much blood shed. Hillyar merely called out 
again that he had no intention of falling on board the 
Essex. Porter, finding that he was luffing up so much 
as to cause his ship to be taken aback, and her jib-boom 
coming over the Essex' forecasde, called, "All hands to 
board the enemy;" directing them, if the ships touched, 
to spring on board the Phoebe. The latter vessel was 



104 ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

now in a precarious condition, for not a gun of hers 
could be brought to bear upon either of the American 
vessels, while her bow was exposed to the raking fire of 
one, and her stern to that of the other. The Phoebe's 
consort, the Cherub, of 28 guns, was too far off to 
leeward to afford any assistance. The Phoebe had been 
informed, by a boat which had pulled out from an English 
merchant ship, that the Essex was in great confusion, from 
the entertainment of the night before, and that half her 
crew were on shore, on liberty. 

Great was the surprise of the Englishmen, then, when 
they saw a full crew ready to board them, and kedge- 
anchors triced up to the yard-arms, ready to drop and 
grapple them. 

Captain Hillyar at once sang out that he had no 
intention of boarding; that it was an accident that his 
ship was taken aback, and that he was sorry to be put in 
an equivocal situation, and had no hostile intention. 

The Phoebe was, at this moment, entirely at the mercy 
of the Essex; and Porter could have destroyed her. 
The temptation was great to do so. Porter would have 
been justified, upon the plea of self-defence; but Captain 
Hillyar's assurances disarmed him, and Porter at once 
hailed the Essex Junior, and ordered Captain Downes 
not to begin firing without orders. Captain Hillyar was 
then allowed to extricate his ship from her disagreeable 
position ; the Phoebe separating from the Essex, and 
drifting by the American vessels, constandy exposed to 
their raking fire, to finally anchor on the east side of the 
harbor, just within shot of the Essex' i8-pounders, but 
beyond the reach of her carronades. The Cherub 
anchored quite close upon the port bow of the Essex ; 
whereupon Porter ordered the Essex Junior to so place 
herself that the Cherub would be between two fires : an 



ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 105 

arrangement which seems to have excited the ineffectual 
anger of Captain Tucker, the Commander of the smaller 
English vessel. 

Porter tells us that, on going on shore, great astonish- 
ment was expressed by the officials and people of 
Valparaiso, that he had not taken advantage of the 
opportunity, and destroyed his enemy. Porter replied 
that he respected the neutrality of the port, and should 
continue to do so. He had reason, not very long after, 
to regret his moderation. 

When on shore in Valparaiso Porter generally staid at 
Senor Blanco's, and the two British Captains paid him a 
visit there, on the day after their arrival. This visit was 
returned, and a rather friendly intercourse was soon 
established, not only between the Commanders, but the 
officers of the respective ships, whenever they met on 
shore — their conduct being such that no one could have 
supposed that they belonged to nations at war with each 
other. 

At the first meeting on shore. Porter told Hillyar that 
it was important to know whether he (Hillyar) intended 
to respect the neutrality of the port. Hillyar replied, 
very emphatically, ''Yoti have paid so much respect to 
the neutrality of the port that I feel myself bound in 
honor to respect it." 

Porter rejoined that his assurance was sufficient, and 
that he should henceforth feel at his ease, and not always 
prepared for action. 

The English frigate had hoisted a flag (motto flags 
were then the fashion), bearing the words, "God and 
country ; British sailors' best rights ; traitors offend 
both."' Porter asked Hillyar what the flag meant, and 
was informed that it was a reply to Porter's motto, "Free 
trade and sailors' rights," which was particularly offensive 



106 ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

to the British navy ; and that he should always hoist it 
when Porter hoisted his. The next time the Enghsh 
motto was hoisted Porter replied with a flag having, 
"God, our Country, and Liberty — tyrants offend them ;'* 
and each ship gave three cheers for their flag. 

In spite of all this, personal intercourse and apparent 
good feeling continued between the two Captains. They 
discussed the objects of the British squadron; their long 
hunt for Porter, and the present status. 

This intercourse between public enemies was, in fact, a 
very curious thing. 

Hillyar asked Porter what he intended to do with his 
prizes ; when he was going to sea ; and other pertinent 
and delicate questions of a like nature. 

Porter told him that whenever he sent away the Cherub 
the Essex would go to sea, and that his sailing day 
would be fixed by Captain Hillyar. Once met. Porter 
said he would test the force of the two ships, but as the 
Essex was smaller than the Phcebe, he would not be 
justified to his country in losing his ship, and so would 
not challenge him. If, however, the Captain of the 
Phcebe would send away the Cherub and then challenge 
the Essex, he (Porter) would be willing to fight. No 
doubt all this was discussed over a cigar and a glass of 
wine, but this we can only conjecture. 

Hillyar said that success in naval actions depended 
upon so many accidents, and that the loss of a spar or 
mast sometimes determined the fate of the day, so he 
should trust to chance to bring the two ships together; 
that he was not disposed to yield the advantage of 
superior force, and should blockade Porter until other 
English men-of-war arrived, and at all events prevent 
him from doing further mischief to British commerce. 

Porter told Hillyar that his prizes were only an encum- 



ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. lOi? 

brance to him under the circumstances, and that some 
time he should take them out to sea and destroy 
them. To this Hillyar rejoined that he dare not do so 
with him in sight. Porter merely answered, ''We shall 
see." 

As Hillyar was determined to lose none of the advan- 
tage of superior force, and it was. known that other ships 
were soon coming to join him, Porter endeavored still to 
provoke the English Commodore to challenge him to a 
single contest. 

The Cherub lying near the Essex, the crews sang 
original songs directed at each other. It is said that the 
Yankee songs had the most point, which is likely, for the 
average English nautical mind is not very brilliant. The 
officers encouraged this amusement, v/hich took place in 
the fine, calm first watches, to the frequent annoyance of 
the English and the great amusement of neutrals. 
Captain Hillyar requested Porter to put a stop to it, 
but the latter refused to do so unless the Cherub ceased 
first. 

At length the quasi-friendly relations between the 
Commanders became very much "strained," as the diplo- 
matists say, by the harboring of an escaped prisoner 
from the Essex on board the Cherub, This led to an 
exchange of strongly-worded letters. Porter and Hillyar 
continued to meet on shore quite frequendy, and at this 
time Porter proposed an exchange of prisoners by sending 
one of the prizes to England as a cartel, to bring thence 
to the United States an equal number. This proposition 
came to nothing, but Porter liberated his English pris- 
oners on condition that they should not serve until 
exchanged ; and Hillyar undertook to write to England 
and have as many Americans liberated. 

In the meantime the Essex Junior had gone outside to 



108 ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

reconnoitre a strange sail, and was very nearly cut off 
by the English vessels both going out, but the Essex 
manned her boats, sent them out and towed her in in 
safety. 

The English ships then continued to cruise outside, 
and Porter, to try his rate of sailing with them, chose 
an opportunity, when thqy were well to leeward, to get 
under way and let them chase him. He found he could 
outsail them both, and could escape at almost any time, 
but he was led to remain in Valparaiso by the hope of 
bringing the Phoebe to single action. This resolution, 
though chivalric, was not exactly prudent. 

One day Porter towed the ship Hector, a prize, to 
sea. The two British ships were then far in the offing, 
and Porter had the prize set on fire. He then returned 
to his anchorage, unmolested, although the English made 
every exertion to come up with him. This insult seemed 
to have the desired effect, and on the afternoon of the 
2 2d of P^ebruary, 1814, the Cherub was seen to be about 
three miles to leeward of the harbor, while the Phcebe 
was standing in alone. At 5 p.m. she hove about, a short 
distance from the Essex, with head off shore, shortened 
sail, fired a gun to windward (a nautical challenge), and 
hoisted her motto flag. 

Porter instantly accepted the challenge, hoisted his 
motto, fired a gun and got under way. 

The Phoebe made sail and stood off shore, while Porter 
followed, under all sail. He was nearing the English 
frigate fast, when to his astonishment, she bore off before 
the wind, and ran down for her consort. Porter fired 
two shots across her fore-foot, but they did not bring her 
to, and the Essex hauled her wind and returned to port, 
where she anchored before the two British vessels could 
reach her. 



ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 109 

Porter did not spare some caustic remarks upon this 
affair, and they reached Hillyar, through British residents 
on shore. 

Defiant letters were interchanged between the ships' 
companies. Porter wrote to Hillyar, and Hillyar to 
Porter, and, as was natural, angry feelings increased. 

About the middle of March the First Lieutenant of the 
Phoebe (who was afterwards killed in the action) came 
on board the Essex, under a flag of truce, with a message 
from Captain Hillyar. 

Presuming it was a challenge. Porter required the 
presence of some of his officers, and then asked the 
English officer the purport of his message. 

The Englishman said that Captain Hillyar had heard 
that Captain Porter had publicly stated that Hillyar had 
acted in a cowardly manner, by running away from the 
Essex after challenging her, but that he could not believe 
the report, and had sent his first Lieutenant to ascertaia 
the truth. 

Porter at once told him that he had said so, and stiU 
thought so. 

The English Lieutenant then stated that he was 
instructed to tell Captain Porter that the hoisting the flag 
and firing the gun, by the Phoebe, was not intended as a 
challenge, but as a signal to her consort. 

Porter replied that Captain Hillyar had informed him 
that the flag was intended for the Essex, and there " was 
not a man, woman nor child in Valparaiso who did not 
think it a challenge." The Lieutenant repeated that 
Captain Hillyar desired him to assure Captain Porter 
that it was not intended for a challenge. 

Porter said he was bound to believe Captain Hillyar, 
if he said so ; but that he should always consider such a 
proceeding a challenge ; and that, whenever he chose to 



IIQ ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

send away the Cherub, and repeat the manoeuvre, he 
should act as he had before done. The Lieutenant once 
more assured Porter that It was not a challenge, and 
that Captain Hillyar did not approve of challenges, 
as he was a relio^ious man. 

Such a state of things as we have been describing 
could not, of course, last very long. 

Exasperation was fast taking the place of self-control, 
on both sides ; and as more British vessels were 
expected, it was necessary for Porter to take some 
decided step. A crisis was evidently approaching. 

The relative strength of the two nations, in Valparaiso, 
was then as follows : — 

The Phoebe carried thirty long eighteens ; sixteen 
thirty-two pound carronades; one howitzer, and six 
three-pounders In the tops; In all, fifty-three guns. Her 
crew consisted of three hundred and twenty men. 

The Cherub carried eighteen thirty-two pound car- 
ronades; eight twenty-fours; two long nines ; and had a 
crew of one hundred and eighty men. 

On the American side, the Essex mounted forty-six 
guns. Forty of these were thirty-two pound carronades, 
and six were long twelves. Her crew, reduced by those 
in prizes, was only two hundred and fifty-five men. 

The Essex Junior, built for whaling, was principally a 
store-ship, or tender. She mounted twenty guns, taken 
from captured whalers. Ten of these were eighteen- 
pound carronades, and ten were short sixes. She had 
a crew of sixty men. 

For six weeks the English ships had been mostly under 
way, and cruising off the port ; and Porter was finally 
induced to put to sea by the certain intelligence that the 
Tagus, ;^S, and two other English frigates, were on their 
way to the Pacific. The Raccoon was also expected; 



ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. Ill 

which sloop had been sent up to the northwest Coast of 
America for the purpose of destroying the American 
Fur Company's estabHshment, on the Columbia river. 

Having agreed upon a rendezvous where he could meet 
the Essex Junior, Porter determined to allow the two 
British vessels to chase him off the coast, and thereby to 
permit his tender to escape. 

On March 28th the wind came out fresh from the 
southward, and the Essex parted one of her cables, and 
dragged the other anchor directly out to sea ; so that it 
was necessary to get sail on the ship instantly. The 
enemy were, at the time, close in with the western point 
of the bay ; but when Porter had made sail, and opened 
them, he saw a chance of passing them to windward ; 
and, taking in top-gallant-salls, which had been set over 
single-reefed top-sails, he braced up for that purpose. 

Unfortunately, as the Essex came up with the point, 
and was passing it, it happened (as it often does in such 
localities) that a heavy squall struck the ship, and carried 
away her main-top-mast; and all the men aloft, furling 
the top-gallant-sall, were lost. 

Admiral Farragut said, in after years, that the reason 
why they lost the main-top-mast was, that the yard 
jammed; and would not come down when the halliards 
were let go — the top-gallant-sail being clewed down. 

The loss of this spar was most disastrous. Both the 
English ships at once gave chase, and the crippled Essex 
endeavored to regain the port. Finding he could not 
reach the usual anchorage. Porter ran into a small bay, 
about three-quarters of a mile to leeward of a small 
Chilian battery, on the east side of the harbor, and 
anchored within pistol-shot of the shore ; intent upon 
repairing damages as soon as possible. The enemy's 
vessels continued to approach, and showed every inten- 



112 ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

tion of attacking him, regardless of the fact that the 
Essex was anchored close to neutral shores. They bore 
down with caution, however, hoisting a number of motto 
flags and jacks. 

Porter went to quarters and got his ship clear of the 
wreck and ready for action as soon as possible, but he 
had not time to get a spring upon his cable, for at about 
4 p. M. the attack was made, the Phoebe assuming a 
position under the Essex' stern, and the Cherub one on 
her starboard bow. Their fire was promptly returned, 
and the Cherub soon found her position a hot one, and 
she bore up to join the Phoebe under the Essex* stern, 
whence they delivered a severe raking fire. The Essex 
could not get her broadside to bear, but fought three 
long twelve-pounders out of the stern ports, which were 
worked with such bravery, skill and rapidity, that in half 
an hour both English ships were obliged to draw off to 
repair damages. 

During the firing, the Essex succeeded, by dint of great 
exertion, in getting a spring upon the cable no less than 
three times, but the fire of the enemy was ?,o heavy that 
it was each time shot away before her broadside could 
be brought to bear. 

The Essex was already much damaged and had a good 
many killed and wounded, but the ship's company were in 
good spirits, and though they were caught at such a 
disadvantage, resolved to resist to the last. 

The gaff, with the motto flag and ensign, had been shot 
away, but "Free Trade and Sailor's Rights" continued to 
fly at the fore. The ensign was now made fast in the 
main rigging, and several jacks displayed at different 
points. The enemy soon repaired damages and were 
ready to renew the attack, and both his ships now placed 
themselves on the Essex' starboard quarter, out of the 



ESSEX, THCEBE AND CHERUB. 113 

reach of her broadside carronades, and where her stern 
guns would not bear. They then opened and kept up a 
galhng- fire, which the Essex could not return at all, and 
there was no chance for the American ship, unless she 
could get underway and assail In turn. The Essex' 
top-sail sheets and halliards were all shot away, as well as 
the jib and stay-sail halliards. Indeed, the only rope of 
that kind not cut was the flying-jib halliards. This, the 
only available sail, was set, the cable cut, and Porter 
steered down upon the English vessels. Intending to lay 
the Phoebe aboard. The firing on both sides was now 
Incessant. Porter let fall his fore-top-sail and fore-sail, 
but the want of tacks and sheets rendered them almost 
useless. Yet he approached his enemy slowly, and 
although the decks were thickly strewn with dead, and 
the cockpit filled with wounded, and although the ship 
had been several times on fire and was almost a wreck, 
they still had some hopes, for the Cherub was just then 
compelled to haul off. This ship did not come Into close 
action again, although she kept up a distant fire from her 
long guns. The disabled state of the Essex enabled the 
Phoebe, by edging off, to choose her own distance, and 
use her long guns, with which she kept up a tremendous 
fire, which mowed down the Essex' crew In a fearful way. 
Farragut, In his recollections, praises the Surgeons for 
their coolness and dexterity, although they had, at this 
time, patients killed under their hands. 

Many of the American guns had been rendered 
useless, and many had their entire crews destroyed by 
this fire. 

The remaining guns were again manned, however, and 
one gun was three times re-manned — fifteen people 
having been killed at that one piece during the action. 



114 ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB, 

The captain of this same gun alone escaped, with a slight 
scratch. 

Finding- that the enemy had it in his power to choose 
his distance, and thus destroy him at leisure, and as the 
wind at the moment favored, Porter determined to run 
his ship on shore, land his men, and destroy her. When 
he was within musket-shot of the beach the wind 
suddenly shifted right off shore, and paid the Essex off, 
with her head towards the Phoebe ; exposing her again 
to a deadly raking fire. 

The Essex was by this time totally unmanageable, yet 
a; her head was towards the enemy, and the latter was 
tc leeward. Porter still had a faint hope that he might be 
able to board her. 

Just then Lieutenant Downes, the Commander of the 
Essex Junior, thinking that the Essex would soon be 
taken, pulled out in his boat, and came on board to 
receive Porter's orders. In the wretched condition of 
the ship Downes could be of no use, and finding that the 
enemy had put his helm up and ran off, so that he could 
not board her. Porter directed Downes to return to his 
own ship, prepare for her defence, and if necessary, 
destroy her. Downes, therefore, took several of the 
wounded, left three of his own crew, and rejoined the 
Essex Junior. 

The slaughter on board the Essex was now horrible ; 
and the enemy continued to rake her, while she could 
not bring a gun to bear. 

Porter then bent a hawser to his sheet-anchor, and cut 
the anchor away, thus bringing her head round. 

Her broadside was then again brought to bear, and as 
the Phoebe was much crippled, and unable to hold her 
own, it is probable he would have drifted out of 
gunshot before he discovered that the Essex had 



ESSEX, PHOEBE AND CHERUB. 115 

anchored again, had not the hawser unfortunately 
parted. The case of the Essex now seemed hopeless. 
Several fires had been extinguished during the engage- 
ment; but now fire made headway both forward and aft; 
and flames, supposed to come from near the magazine, 
were shooting up the hatchways. At this juncture they 
were about three-quarters of a mile from the shore, and 
there was a bare chance for those of the crew who could 
swim well to reach the land. The boats were all 
destroyed by the enemy's shot, and the fire was now 
burning fiercely, close to the after magazine. 

Orders were given for those who could swim to jump 
overboard and make for the shore. Many did so, some 
with clothes already on fire. Some reached the beach, 
some were captured by the enemy's boats, and some 
perished. Most of the surviving officers and crew 
preferred to share, with the Captain, the fate of the ship. 
These were now wholly employed in endeavors to ex- 
tinguish the flames; and In this they finally succeeded. 

They then once more manned the guns, and renewed 
the engagement ; but the crew were now so weakened 
that all saw the impossibility of further resistance, and 
entreated Captain Porter to surrender, as the ship was 
entirely disabled, and such a step was necessary, to save 
the wounded. Porter sent for the division officers, to 
consult them ; but found only Lieutenant McKnight 
remaining. He confirmed the reports of the bad condi- 
tion of the ship, below, and the disabled state of the 
guns, and their crews. Lieutenant Wilmer had been 
knocked overboard by a splinter, while getting the 
sheet-anchor overboard, and had been drowned, after 
fighting gallantly through the whole action. Acting 
Lieutenant Cowell had lost a leg. The Sailing Master, 
Mr. Barnewell, was badly wounded. Acting Lieutenant 



116 ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

Odenheimer had been knocked overboard, but managed 
to sustain himself upon some floating wreck, not succeed- 
ing, however, in regaining the ship until after her 
surrender. The cockpit, steerage, wardroom, and berth- 
deck were full of wounded ; some of whom were killed 
while the Surgeons were operating upon them. More 
than this, it was evident that unless something was done 
the ship must soon sink, with all on board, from the 
numerous shot-holes below the water line. , 

The Carpenter reported that all his men were either 
killed or wounded; and he himself had narrowly escaped 
drowning, as the slings in which he was suspended, while 
overboard, stopping shot-holes, had been shot away. It 
was impossible to reach the enemy with the carronades ; 
while they, from the smoothness of the water, and 
immunity from shot, were enabled to use. their long guns 
upon the Essex, as upon a target 

It is said that, at this time, Lieutenant Ingram, of the 
Phoebe, wanted Captain Hillyar to bear down and board 
the Essex — saying it was deliberate murder to lie off and 
fire in this way. This gallant English officer was killed, 
among the last, that day. 

The American ship continued to be hulled at ever)' 
shot, and was cut up in a way seldom witnessed. In a 
word, there was no hope of saving her, and at half- past 
six in the evening Porter was forced to strike his colors. 

Only seventy-five officers and men remained fit for 
duty; and many of these were wounded, and some 
afterwards died. 

In spite of the colors being down, the enemy continued 
his deliberate fire, and the survivors continued to fall. 
Porter ordered an opposite gun to be fired, to intimate 
his surrender, but the fire continued, and sp^^eral more 
men fell. 



ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 117 

Porter now believed that they intended to show no 
quarter ; and he was upon the point of hoisting- his flag 
again, when, about ten minutes after the colors had been 
struck, the enemy ceased firing. 

It is only fair to suppose that the smoke prevented 
them from seeing that the flag was down. 

Porter, and his officers and crew, had shown unpar- 
alleled bravery, skill, zeal, and patriotism ; and nothing 
but the absolute requirements of humanity caused their 
surrender — to save the helpless wounded. Had they 
been disposed of, there is little doubt they would have 
let the Essex sink under them, and have taken the 
chance of gaining the shore. 

The action had been fought almost entirely with the 
great guns; musketry being only used during the first 
half hour. During most of the time the Essex could 
only use her six long twelves ; and it is fair to say that 
every one did his whole duty. Farragut, then a mere 
child, was mentioned, among others, for gallantry, but 
was " too young to recommend for promotion." 

The Essex' ship's company were unfortunate, but not 
disgraced. Out of them fifty-eight were killed, or died 
subsequently of wounds ; thirty-nine were severely 
wounded ; twenty-seven were slightly wounded ; and 
thirty-one were missing — mostly drowned. Lieutenant 
Cowell, whose leg was shattered, insisted upon waiting 
his turn, with the other wounded, for amputation, and 
thereby lost his life. 

The enemy's loss, which was comparatively light, from 
the circumstances under which the battle was fought, 
included the First Lieutenant of the Phoebe, killed, and 
Captain Tucker, of the Cherub, severely wounded. 
Both the Essex and the Phoebe were in a sinking state, 

8 



118 tS^EX, PHCEBE AND CHEKUB. 

and were with difficulty kept afloat until morning, when 
they anchored in the port of Valparaiso. 

The Essex was afterwards repaired, and sent to 
England, when she was added to the British navy. The 
Phcebe had eighteen shot-holes through her, below the 
water line, and nothing saved both ships but the fact that 
the water was very smooth. 

During the action the American Consul General, Mr. 
Poinsett, demanded from the Governor of Valparaiso 
that his batteries should protect the Essex. 

This was refused ; but he was promised that, if she 
fought her way in to the usual anchorage, he would send 
to the British Commander, and request him to desist, but 
would not use force under any circumstances. This, and 
other evidences of bias in favor of the British were so 
strong, that Mr. Poinsett left the country, having no hope 
that any claim for the restoration of the ship would be 
entertained. 

The change of feeling in the authorities of Valparaiso, 
Porter attributed to a revplution, which had lately put 
new people Into power ; beside the fact that the South 
American nations always favored the strongest force. 

Soon after their capture Captain Hillyar allowed the 
prisoners to proceed to the United States in the Essex 
Junior, which ship was disarmed, and furnished with a 
passport, to prevent recapture. 

Porter, in his remarks upon the battle, says that while 
he could never be reconciled to Hillyar's course In 
attacking the Essex in neutral waters, he must do the 
English Captain the justice to say that, after the capture, 
he did all he could to alleviate the misery of the wounded 
and prisoners. Their private property was pilfered, to be 
sure, but it was against Hillyar's positive orders. Porter 
also very truly remarks that the Essex would almost 



" ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 119 

certainly have escaped to sea, but for the accident to her 
mast, and that it was a wonderful thing that the two ships 
should not have captured or destroyed her in a much 
shorter time. 

The English frigate Tagus arrived a few days after the 
battle. She, with other English ships, had been sent 
to look for Porter in the China Seas, Timor and Aus- 
tralia. Porter estimated the cost to the English govern- 
ment of the capture of the Essex as, at least, ^6,000,000. 

We now pass to the singular termination of the voyage 
of the Essex Junior, which ship left Valparaiso with the 
paroled American prisoners. She made a remarkably 
good passage of 73 days, to Sandy Hook, the j)risoners 
hoping to be in time to be exchanged, fit out a vessel, 
and intercept the prize on her passage to England, But 
off Sandy Hook they fell in with the British ship Saturn, 
the Captain of which at first passed them, but two hours 
after boarded them again, and revoked the pass. As 
Captain Hillyar's pass w-as thus violated. Captain Porter 
revoked his parole, and declared himself the Saturn's 
prisoner. The Essex Junior was directed to remain all 
night under the Saturn's guns. The next morning the 
ships were some thirty miles off Long Island, within 
musket-shot of each other, and in a dense fog. Porter 
determined to escape. A boat was lowered and manned, 
and Porter entered it, leaving with Lieutenant Downes a 
message for Captain Nash, of the Saturn, to the effect 
that he was " satisfied that British officers were destitute 
of honor, and regardless of the honor of each other. 
That he was armed and intended to defend himself 
against boats sent out after him." He got nearly a gun- 
shot off, in the fog, before it was discovered that he had 
left, and when he was pursued he eluded the enemy's 
boats and landed at Babylon, Long Island. The English 



120 ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB. 

asserted breach of parole in his case, but the Government 
took up the matter, and it was finally satisfactorily ar- 
ranged. 

In connection with the homeward passage of the Essex 
Junior, we must not omit to mention the sad fate of 
Lieutenant Stephen Decatur McKnight, the only Lieu- 
tenant of the Essex who escaped unhurt from> the san- 
guinary engagement with the Phoebe and Cherub. 

Lieutenant McKnight and Midshipman Lyman had 
remained behind, and went to Rio Janeiro in the Phoebe, 
to make the affidavits necessary to condemn the Essex as 
a prize. They were then allowed the option of going to 
England in the Phoebe, or to be allowed to go to 
Europe in a merchant vessel, and thence home-, on 
parole. They preferred the latter, and sailed from Rio 
in a Swedish brig called the Adonis. On the passage 
they met, at sea, the United States ship Wasp, Captain 
Blakely, on a cruise, and left the Adonis and joined the 
Wasp, in mid-ocean. The Wasp was never seen again 
after the Adonis left her. 

It may further be of interest to have Admiral Farra- 
gut's recollections of this battle, as well as his comments 
thereon, when ripe in years and experience. 

Farragut was only thirteen years old at the time of 
the batde; but, as we have seen, he was commended for 
his coolness and conduct. 

He said that, when the English ships first came in, and 
while the Essex and Phoebe were close together, and 
the Captains talking to each other, a young fellow 
stationed at a gun-deck gun of the Essex, who had just 
come off from liberty, rather tipsy, fancied he saw a man 
on board the Phoebe crrinnino^ at him. 

"My fine fellow," said he, "I'll soon stop your making 
faces!" and was about to fire his gun, when Lieutenant 



ESSEX, PHCEBE AND CHERUB 



121 



McKnight saw him, and knocked him over. Farragut 
remarks diat, if this gun had been fired, the battle 
would then have taken place, under such circumstances 
that the Phoebe would most likely have been taken. 

He also mendons (which Captain Porter does not), 
that one night, while the English ships were outside, the 
Americans manned all boats, to board and capture them; 
but finding them prepared, and their men lying at their 
quarters, they returned. 

In his later years the gallant Admiral gave his opinion 
as follows : " In the first place, I consider our original 
and greatest error was in attempdng to regain^ the 
original anchorage, as, being of very fine sailing qualides, 
the Essex should have borne up and run before the 
wind. If we had come in contact with the Phcebe, we 
could have boarded her. If she avoided us— having all 
her masts, and ability to manoeuvre — then we could 
have taken her fire, and passed on, leaving both 
vessels behind, until we could have replaced our top- 
mast. By this time they would have separated, or it 
would have been no chase, as the Cherub was a dull 
sailer. 

" Secondly. When it was apparent to everybody that 
we had no chance of success, under the circumstances, 
the ship should have been run on shore, throwing her 
broadside to the beach, to prevent raking; fought as 
long as was consistent with humanity, and then set on 
fire. But, having determined upon anchoring, we should 
have bent a spring on the ring of the anchor, instead of 
upon the cable, where it was exposed, and could be shot 
away as fast as it could be put on. This mode of pro- 
ceeding would have given us, in my opinion, a better 
opportunity of injuring our opponents." Farragut further 
says. It has been quite common to blame Captain 



122 ESSEX, PHa:BE and cherub. 

Hillyar for his conduct In this affair ; but when we come 
to consider the characteristics of the two Commanders, 
we may be inclined to judge more leniently ; although 
Porter's complaints in the matter will excite no surprise. 
Porter was then about thirty-one years of age, and the 
'pink of chivalry,' and of an ardent and impetuous 
temperament ; while Hillyar was a cool and calculating 
man, of about fifty; and he himself said, 'had gained his 
reputation by several single-ship combats ; and only 
expected to retain it on the present occasion by 
Implicit obedience to his orders, viz : to capture the 
Essex with the least possible risk to his vessel and 
crew;' and as he had a superior force, he had determined 
not to leave anything to chance, believing any other 
course would call down on him the disapprobation of his 
government." 

Among other reminiscences by Farragut, we find that 
when Lieutenant Int^ram visited the Essex, under a flacj 
of truce, he was shown all over her, and made a very 
good Impression by his frank and manly bearing. He 
said the happiest moment of his life would be to take her 
to England should she be captured in equal combat. 
Porter replied that, should such an event occur, he knew 
no British officer to whom he would more readily yield 
the honor. Poor Ingram was killed by a splinter, and 
the American officers who survived attended his funeral, 
In Valparaiso. 

"During the action," says Admiral Farragut, In his 
later years, " I was, like ' Paddy In the Catharplns,' a man 
on occasions. I performed the duties of Captain's aid, 
quarter-gunner, powder-boy, and, in fact, did everything 
that was required of me. I shall never forget the hor- 
rible Impression made upon me at the sight of the first 
man I had ever seen killed. He was a boatswain's mate, 



ESSEX, THCEBE AND CHERUB. 123 

and was fearfully mutilated. It staggered and sickened 
me at first, but they soon began to fall around me so fast 
that it all appeared like a dream, and produced no effect 
upon my nerves. I can remember well, while I was stand- 
ing near the Captain, just abaft the main-mast, a shot came 
through the water-ways and glanced upward, killing four 
men who were standing by the side of a gun, taking the 
last one in the head, and scattering his brains over both 
of us. But this awful sight did not affect me half as much 
as the death of the first poor fellow. I neither thought 
of nor noticed anything but the working of the guns." 

During the action Midshipman Farragut was knocked 
down a ladder by the body of a heavy man, who was 
killed. Farragut was only bruised. 

The Admiral also tells an amusing story of a fight he 
had, on board the English frigate, after the action, when 
they were taken on board, prisoners. He saw an English 
midshipman who had captured a pet pig, called Murphy, 
belonging to him, and he stoutly claimed it. The English 
midshipman refused to surrender it, but his older mess- 
mates told Farragut that if he licked the English mid- 
shipman he should have his pig. A ring was formed, 
and, encouraged by shouts, of "Go it! my little Yankee! 
if you can thrash Shorty you shall have your pig!" he 
went in and licked the Englishman handsomely. 







BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. SEPTEMBER 
iiTH. A. D. 1814. 




HE battle of Lake Champlain, or Plattsburg, 
as it is often called, was one of the most 
important, in its results, of all fouglit during 
the war with Great Britain which began 
in 1812. 

At the same time that the naval battle 
was fought, the Americans, under General 
Macomb, obtained a decided victory over 
the British land forces, which had advanced, on the west 
side of Lake Champlain, as fir as Plattsburg. 

Although Lake Champlain had been the scene of so 
many important events in the previous wars on this 
continent, two years of the "War of 1812" elapsed 
before anything of importance occurred there. Nor 
would it have then been the scene of any stirring event, 
if English military men had been capable of learning 
anything from previous operations there. 

Towards the end of 1814 large reinforcements had 
arrived in Canada, from England, and an army of twelve 
or fifteen thousand men was collected in the vicinity of 
Montreal. 

With this force the enemy intended an invasion of the 
northern counties of New York ; und«".terred by the fate 
of General Burgoyne, whose route, practically, they 
intended to follow. 



BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 125 

In Spite of the obstinacy and stupidity of the English 
military mind during these operations, many people have 
supposed that this expedition was not intended to be 
pushed very fai Cnto a country much more capable of 
resistance than in Burgoyne's time, but that the officers 
were probably directed to penetrate as far as Crown 
Point and Ticonderoga, perhaps with a view to attempts 
at further conquests in the spring. 

Some thought that they hoped to reach Albany; a 
measure that would have involved the loss of their 
whole force, as double the number of men could hardly 
have accomplished such a feat in Burgoyne's time, 
through a sparsely settled country. 

It is altogether probable that they intended to occupy 
a portion of the frontier, in the expectation of turning 
the occupation to account in the negotiations which were 
known to be impending ; as the English Commissioners 
soon after advanced a claim which would have the effect 
of driving the Americans back from their ancient boun- 
daries, with a view to leaving to Great Britain the entire 
possession of the lakes. 

In such an expedition as this, with Canada as a base, 
the command of Champlain became of great importance, 
as it flanked the march of the invading army for more 
than a hundred miles, and offered great facilities for 
forwarding supplies, as well as for annoyance and 
defence. 

Undl the year 1814 neither nation had had a force of 
any moment on Lake Champlain ; but the Americans 
had built a ship and a schooner, during the previous 
winter and spring. When it was found that the enemy 
had serious intentions, both by water and by land, the 
keel of a brig was laid, and a number of " row-galleys," 
or gun-boats,, were also constructed. 



12G BAITLE OF LAKL LIIAMPLAIN. 

During this period the EngHsh were not idle. In 
addition to several small vessels they already possessed 
on these waters, they built a brig, and, gs soon as she was 
in frame, laid the keel of a ship. The latter vessel was 
to be of the greatest force and size possible for those 
waters, and great care was taken to m.ake her so. 
The American brig, which was called the Eagle, was 
launched about the middle of August, and the English 
ship, which was called the Confiance, on the 25 th of the 
same month. As the English army was already collect- 
ing on the frontier, the utmost exertions were made by 
both sides, and each ship appeared on the lake as she 
was got ready. 

Captain Thomas McDonough, who commanded the 
American naval force, was an officer who, though young, 
had repeatedly distinguished himself since he had entered 
the service, in the year 1800, being appointed from the 
State of Delaware. 

McDonough got out on the lake a few days before 
his adversary, and as cruising, in the ordinary sense of 
the term, was impossible upon such a long and narrow 
body of water, the American Captain advanced as far as 
Plattsburg, the point selected for the defence against the 
invaders, and anchored, on the 3d of September, on the 
flank of the American troops, which occupied entrench- 
ments at that place. 

Previously to this the English had made an attempt to 
sink a vessel in the mouth of the Otter Creek, to prevent 
the Americans from getting their vessels out, but they 
were beaten off Otter Creek is some distance down the 
lake, on the Vermont side. 

About this time Sir George Prevost, the English Com- 
mander-in-chief, advanced against Plattsburg, then held 
by Brigadier General Macomb. The latter had only 



BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIM. 127 

fifteen hundred men fit for duty, while Sir Geo. Prevost's 
army was estimated at twelve thousand. 

Prevost s army was divided into four brigades, which 
were commanded by Lieutenant General De Rottenberg, 
Major Generals Brisbane, Power and Robinson, and 
Major General Baynes was Adjutant General. 

With this formidably officered force Sir George Pre- 
vost advanced slowly down the right shore of the lake, 
waiting for the flotilla to get ready and to appear on his 
left flank. 

From the 7th to the nth of August the American 
skirmishers and scouts kept the English advance well 
upon the alert, while the latter were engaged In bringing 
up their battering trains, stores and reinforcements. 
Some fighting took place amongst detached bodies, on 
shore, but no move was made upon the water. 

Cooper will be chiefly followed In the account of the 
batde which took place upon the lake, although Roose- 
velt does even more justice to McDonough than Cooper 
does. Like Cooper, too, Roosevelt ranks McDonough as 
much higher In the scale of ability, as a naval commander, 
than Perry, the commander on Lake Erie, while in regard 
to courage and conduct under fire, their claims are 
undoubtedly equal. 

The English naval Captain, Downle, late in command 
of the Montreal, on Lake Ontario, had been sent by Sir 
James Yeo, the British naval Commander-in-chief, to 
take the command on Lake Champlain. He came, with 
the express understanding that he was not to come out 
until he considered his vessels ready. 

In one sense, neither the English nor the American 
vessels were in a very forward state of preparation. The 
largest English vessel had been in the water but sixteen 
days when she was brought into action. The second vessel 



128 BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

in size of the Americans had been launched but thirty days 
when she was fought in the battle. In point of fact, the 
American Eagle was ready for service but eight days 
before the English Confiance. As all these vessels had 
litrie need of the stores supplied to a sea-going ship, and 
as the action between them was fought at anchor, they 
were, really, not much more than floating batteries. 

But to illustrate the difficulties under which naval opera- 
tions in those parts were carried on, we may say that 
when Captain McDonough first arrived, to build and fit 
out a squadron, he was so short of skilled seamen that he 
was obliged to turn to and strop blocks, and do other 
seaman's work, with his own hands. 

Ready-witted Yankee landsmen soon learned to do a 
o-reat deal, and after a time, seamen, in small numbers, 
were procured, such as had seen powder burnt. 

On the 6th of September Captain McDonough ordered 
his galleys to the head of Plattsburg Bay, to annoy the 
British land forces, which they cannonaded for two hours. 
The wind then came on to blow a gale, which menaced 
the galleys with shipwreck, and they were ordered to 
retire. The boat which carried the order was in charge 
of a midshipman named Duncan, and it is supposed the 
enemy thought McDonough himself was in the boat, 
about to join the galleys, for they concentrated a fire upon 
It, and Mr. Duncan was severely wounded, losing an arm. 

The general direction of Lake Champlain is north and 
south, but, at a point called Cumberland Head, in coming 
south, the land bends north again, forming Plattsburg 
Bay, which is a deep indentation of the shore, that leaves 
a basin open to the southward, and which, consequently, 
lies nearly parallel to the main lake. The east side of 
this bay Is protected by the long, narrow neck of land that 
terminates in Cumberland Head. Its bottom, or northern 



BAtTLE Of LAKE CHAMPLAIN l29 

end, and its western shore, are encircled by the main land, 
while to the southward and eastward is the entrance. 
Near the centre of the western shore the Saranac enters 
the bay, and on both banks of that river stands the town 
of Plattsburg. 

About a mile and a half from Cumberland Head, in a 
southwesterly direction, and quite near the western shore, 
is an extensive shoal and a small, low island, which com- 
mands the approach to the bay in that direction. 

At this spot, called Crab Island, the naval hospital was 
established, and a one-gun battery erected. 

Captain McDonough had chosen an anchorage a little 
south of the outlet of the Saranac. His vessels lay in a 
line parallel to the shore, extending north and south, and 
distant from the western shore nearly two miles. The 
last vessel to the southward was so near the shoal as to 
prevent the English from passing that end of the line, 
while all the American vessels lay out so much toward 
Cumberland Head that they brought the enemy within 
reach of carronades, should he enter the bay on that side. 

The Eagle, Captain Henley, lay at the northern 
extremity of the American line, and what might, during 
the battle which followed, have been called its head ; the 
wind being to the northward and eastward. The Saratoga, 
Captain McDonough' s own vessel, was second ; the 
Ticonderoga, Lieutenant Commanding Cassin, the third ; 
and the Preble, Lieutenant Budd, last. The Preble lay a 
little further south than the pitch of Cumberland Head. 

The first of the vessels just mentioned was a brig of 
twenty guns and 1 50 men, all told ; the second, a ship of 
twenty-six guns, and 212 men ; the third, a schooner of 
seventeen guns, and no men; and the last, a sloop of 
seven guns and 30 men. 

The metal of all these vessels, as well as of those of the 



130 BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

enemy, was unusually heavy, there being no swell in the 
lake to make a heavy armament dangerous. 

The Saratoga mounted eight long 24s, six 42 s, and 
twelve 32-pound carronades. The Eagle had eight long 
1 8s, and twelve 32-pound carronades. The Ticonderoga 
had four long i8s, eight long 12s, and four ^2-pound 
carronades, beside one 1 8-pound columbiad. The Preble 
had seven long 9s. 

In addition to these four vessels, the Americans had ten 
galleys or gun-boats — six large and four small. Each 
of the large ones mounted a long 24 and an eighteen- 
pound columbiad, while the smaller ones had each a 
long 12. 

The galleys had, on an average, about thirty-five men 
each. 

The total force of the Americans consisted, therefore, 
of fourteen vessels, of all classes, mounting 102 guns, and 
containing about eight hundred and fifty men, including 
officers, and a small detachment of soldiers, who did duty 
as marines, none of that corps having been sent to Lake 
Champlain. 

To complete his order of battle, Captain McDonough 
directed two of the galleys to keep in shore, and a little to 
windward of the Eagle, to sustain the head of the line. 
One or two more were to lie opposite to the interval 
between the Eagle and the Saratoga ; a few opposite the 
interval between the Saratoga and Ticonderoga ; and two 
opposite the interval between the Ticonderoga and the 
Preble. If any order had been given to cover the rear of 
the line it was not carried out. 

The Americans were, consequently, formed in two lines, 
distant from each other about forty yards, the large vessels 
at anchor, and the galleys under their sweeps. Owing to 
the latter circumstance, the inner line soon got to be very 



BATTLE Of LAKE CHAMPLAIN. I3l 

Irregular, " some of the galleys pressing boldly forward, 
while others were less impelled by the ardor of their 
commanders," which is certainly a good way of putting It. 

The known force of the enemy was materially greater 
than that of the Americans. 

The largest English vessel, the Confiance, commanded 
by Captain Downle in person, had the gun-deck of a 
heavy frigate, and mounted on It an armament of thirty 
long 24s. 

She had a spacious top-gallant-forecastle, and a poop 
which came as far as the mizzen-mast. On her forecastle 
she mounted one long 24, on a circle, and four heavy carron- 
ades ; and on the poop, two heavy carronades, making an 
armament of thirty-seven guns, in all. Her complement 
of men Is supposed to have been more than three 
hundred. 

The next vessel of the enemy was the Linnet, a brig of 
sixteen long 12 s, with a crew of about one hundred men. 

They had two sloops ; the Chubb and the Finch. The 
first carried ten 18-pound carronades, and one long 6; 
the second six 18-pound carronades, one 18-pound colum- 
biad, and four long 6s. Each of these sloops had about 
forty men. 

To these four vessels were added a force of galleys, or 
gun-boats, in number, either twelve or thirteen ; Captain 
McDonough gives the latter number ; Captain Downle, 
the former. Thus, Downle' s whole force consisted of 
sixteen or seventeen vessels, mounting, in all, one hundred 
and fifteen or sixteen guns, and manned by about one 
thousand men. 

On the third of September the British gun-boats sailed 
from Isle aux Noix, to cover the left flank of their army, 
then marching on Plattsburg. The boats were under the 
orders of Captain Pring, and on the 4th that ofiicer took 



132 BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

possession of Isle aux Motte, where he constructed a 
battery, and landed some stores for die troops. 

On the 8th, Captain Downie arrived, with the four large 
Entdish vessels, and remained at anchor undl the nth. 
At daylight of that day the whole force weighed anchor 
and proceeded, in a body. 

The American guard-boat pulled in,- soon after sunrise, 
and announced the approach of the enemy. As the wind 
was fair — a good working breeze from the northeast — 
the English came down the lake rapidly, and Captain 
McDonough ordered the ships cleared for acdon, and 
preparations made to fight at anchor. 

Eight bells were struck in the American squadron as the 
upper sails of the Bridsh vessels were seen passing along 
the neck of land in the main lake, on their way to double 
Cumberland Head, in order to enter the bay. They had 
the wind a litde on the port quarter, the booms of their 
small vessels swinging out to starboard. The Finch led, 
followed by the Confiance, Linnet and Chubb, while the 
o-unboats, which, like those of the Americans, each carried 
two latine sails, followed without much order ; keeping 
just clear of the shore. 

The first vessel which came round the head was a sloop, 
which is reported to have carried a company of amateurs, 
and which took no part in the engagement. She kept 
well to leeward, standing down towards Crab Island, and 
was soon lost to observadon in the events which followed. 
It is this vessel, undoubtedly, which has made the differ- 
ence in the numbers of the enemy reported by the two 
commanders. 

The Finch came round next ; and soon after the other 
large vessels of the enemy opened from behind the land, 
and hauled by the wind, in a line abreast ; lying to undl 
their galleys could join. The latter proceeded to leeward 



BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 135 

and formed in the same manner as the larger vessels. 
The two squadrons were now in plain view of each other, 
and distant about three miles. 

As soon as their gun-boats were in their stations, and 
the different commanders had received their orders, the 
English filled away, on the starboard tack, and headed in 
towards the American vessels, in a line abreast — the 
Chubb to windward and the Finch to leeward — most of 
their gunboats being to leeward of the Finch. The 
movements of the latter vessel had been a little singular 
ever since she led round the Head — for she is said not to 
have hove to, as the rest did, but to have run off with the 
wind, halfway to Crab Island, then to have tacked, and 
got into her station after the other vessels had filled. 

This movement w^as either to reconnoitre, or to menace 
the American rear. 

The enemy were now standing In, close-hauled, the 
Chubb looking well to windward of the Eagle, the vessel 
which lay at the head of the American line. The Linnet 
was laying her course for the head of the same vessel ; 
and the Confiance was intending to fetch far enough 
ahead of the Saratoga to lay that ship athwart hawse. 
The Finch, with the gun-boats, was standing for the 
Ticonderoga and Preble. 

Captain McDonough had taken up his anchorage with 
the eye of a seaman. As has been said, his line could not 
be doubled, on account of the shoal ; there was not room 
to anchor on his broadside out of reach of his carronades, 
which formed so large a part of his armament ; and in 
order to close, it was necessary, let the wind blow as it 
might, to stand In upon his vessels bows on. This was 
an experiment not rashly to be attempted ; yet the English, 
accustomed to see It succeed in their European contests, 
did not hesitate to adopt It on this occasion, most 

9 



136 BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAHJ. 

probably presuming upon their knowledge of the large 
proportion of short guns in their adversaries' vessels. 

The Americans were, as a matter of course, anchored 
with springs. But, not content with this, McDonough 
had laid a hedge broad off on each bow of the Saratoga, 
and brought their hawsers in upon the two quarters, 
letting them hang in bights under the water. This timely 
precaution really gained him the victory. 

As the enemy filled away the American vessels sprung 
their broadsides to bear, and then, for a few minutes, the 
solemn silence which always prevails before a naval 
action, in a well-disciplined ship, was only broken by the 
footsteps of the vigilant officers. 

Suddenly the Eagle fired, in quick succession, the four 
long eighteens in broadside. In clearing the decks of 
the Saratoga some hen-coops were thrown overboard, 
and the poultry turned out, to run at large about the 
decks. Startled by the reports of these guns, a young 
cock flew upon a gun-slide, clapped his wings, and 
crowed. 

At this animating sound the men spontaneously gave 
three cheers. This little incident relieved the solemn 
time which elapsed between preparation and combat, and 
had an especially powerful influence over the seamen — so 
apt to be swayed by signs and omens. 

Although the enemy's galleys now opened fire, 
McDonough refrained from giving the order to reply, 
for it was evident that the Eagle's guns, which continued 
to try the range, did not yet reach. As soon, however, 
as it was seen that her shot told, McDonough himself 
sighted a long twent)'-four, and the gun was fired. The 
shot struck the Confiance near her hawse-hole, and passed 
the whole length of her deck, killing and wounding 
several men, and carrying away her wheel. It was the 



BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 137 

signal for the Americans to open with all their long guns, 
under which the English flag-ship especially suffered. 

Still they steadily held their course, in the most gallant 
manner, confident that if they could once get their ships 
into the desired position, the great weight of metal of the 
Confiance would decide the fortune of the day. 

But he had over-estimated his own powers of endurance; 
and, probably, under-estimated the force of the Americans, 
The anchors of the Confiance were hanging by the 
stoppers, in readiness to let go, and her port bower was 
soon cut away by shot, as well as a spare anchor in the 
port fore-chains. In short, after a long endurance of a 
galling fire from the Americans, the wind began to baffle, 
and Captain Downie found himself obliged to anchor 
while still distant a quarter of a mile from the American 
line. The helm of the Confiance was put a-port; the 
ship shot into the wind, and a kedge was let go, while the 
ship took a sheer, and brought up with her starboard 
bower. In doing this her kedge was fouled, and became 
of no use. In coming to, her halliards were let run, and 
she hauled up her courses. 

At this time the Linnet and the Chubb were still 
standing in, further to the westward, and the former, 
when her guns bore, fired a broadside at the Saratoga. 
The Linnet soon after anchored somewhat nearer than 
the Confiance ; getting an excellent position, forward of 
the Eagle's beam. 

The Chubb kept under way, intending, if possible, to 
rake the American line. The Finch, by means of her 
sweeps, got abreast of the Ticonderoga, and was sup- 
ported by the gun-boats. 

The English vessels came to in very handsome style, 
and, although the whole American line was now firing, 
the Confiance did not discharge a single gun until she 



136 BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

was secured. As soon as this was done her battery was 
manned, and her side appeared one sheet of flame, as 
she fired her whole broadside at once, mostly at the 
Saratoga. The effect of this broadside, from sixteen long 
24s, double-shotted, in perfectly smooth water, at point 
blank range, and coolly sighted, was terrible for the litde 
ship which received it. Half her crew were prostrated, 
although many were knocked down who had received no 
real injury, but about forty men, or near one fifth of her 
complement were either killed or wounded, on board the 
Saratoga, by this one broadside. The hatches had been 
covered, as usual, but the decks were so encumbered by 
the bodies that it was found necessary to take off the 
gratings, and pass them below. For a moment the men 
seemed appalled, but then they resumed their fire as 
gallantly as ever. Among the killed by this broadside 
was Mr. Gamble, her First Lieutenant. He was on his 
knees, sighting the bow-gun, when a shot entered the 
port, split the quoin, drove a portion of it against his 
chest, and laid him dead, without breaking the skin. 

Captain Downie was, a few moments later, killed by 
an American shot, without breaking the skin, as a dis- 
mounted gun struck him in the groin. 

By the loss of Mr. Gamble but one lieutenant, and he 
an acting one, was left in the Saratoga. On the part of 
the principal vessels the battle now settled into a steady, 
animated, but, as guns were injured, a gradually decreas- 
inor cannonade. The Chubb, while manoeuvring: near 
the head of the American line, received a broadside from 
the Eagle, which crippled her, and she drifted down 
between the opposing vessels, until near the Saratoga, 
which ship fired a shot into her, and she immediately 
struck. A midshipman was sent in a boat, to take pos- 
session. The young officer hove the prize a line, and 



BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 139 

towed her down astern and inshore of the Saratoga ; 
anchoring her near the mouth of the Saranac. 

This first success occurred within a quarter of an hour 
after the enemy had anchored, and afforded great en- 
couragement toourpeople ; altliough they well knewthaton 
the heavily armed Confiance depended the fate of the day. 
The Chubb had suffered much, and nearly half her ship's 
company had been killed or wounded. 

After about an hour's fighting, the Finch was also 
driven out of her station by the Ticonderoga, and, being 
crippled, "she drifted down upon Crab Island Shoal, where, 
after receiving a shot or two from the gun mounted In 
battery, she struck, and was taken possession of by the 
invalids from the hospital. 

At the end of the line the British galleys early made 
every effort to come to close action, and soon after the 
Finch had drifted away tliey forced the Preble out of the 
American line, that vessel cutting her cable, and shifting 
her anchorage to a station considerably inshore, where she 
rendered no more service that day. 

The rear of the American line was certainly its weakest 
point ; and having compelled the lltde Preble to retreat, 
the enemy's galleys Immediately attacked the vessel which 
was next ahead In t«he line, the Ticonderoga. 

This schooner was not only more powerful than the 
Preble, but she was nobly fought by Lieutenant Cassin, 
her commander, who coolly walked the taffrail, where he 
could watch the movements of the enemy's galleys, amidst 
showers of canister and grape. 

He fired, in return, bags of musket balls, and other light 
missiles, which kept the British gun-boats at a respectful 
distance. Many of the latter were very gallantly fought, 
and several times approached quite near, with the evident 
intention of boarding, but the steadiness of the Tlcon- 



140 BAITLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

deroga's fire beat them back, and completely covered 
the rear of the line for the rest of the day. So desperate 
were some of the attacks that the galleys got up within 
boat-hook's length of the schooner. 

While the fight was thus progressing in the rear of the 
American line, the other extremity was suffering severely. 
The English vessel, the Linnet, had a capital position, 
and was most admirably fought, while the Eagle (which 
received all her fire and part of that of the Confiance), 
having had her springs shot away, found herself so situated 
as to be unable to bring her guns fairly to bear upon 
either of her opponents. Captain Henley had, previous 
to the engagement, hoisted his top-sail yards, with the sails 
stoppered, to the mast-heads. He now cut his cable, 
sheeted home his top-sails, cast the brig, and ran down and 
anchored by the stern, between the Saratoga and Tlcon- 
deroga, necessarily a little Inshore of both. Here he used 
his port battery, which was fresh, upon the Confiance 
and the gun-boats. But this movement left the Saratoga 
exposed to nearly the whole fire of the Linnet, which brig 
now sprung her broadside so as to partially rake the 
American ship. 

Soon after this Important change at the head of the line 
the fire of the two ships began to materially diminish, 
as gun after gun became disabled. The Saratoga, In 
particular, had all her long guns disabled by shot ; while 
most of her carronades were dismounted, either from the 
enemy's fire, or from a disposition in the men to over- 
charge them, which the paucity of officers rendered It 
difficult to prevent. At lengdi, but a single carronade 
remained In the starboard battery, and on firing it, the 
navel-bolt broke, and the over-heated and over-charged 
gun not only flew off die carriac^e, but down the main 
hatch. 



BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 141 

This left the ship of the American commanding officer, 
m the middle of the action, without an available gun. The 
only thing to be done was to immediately attempt to wind 
the ship. 

A stream anchor which was suspended astern was let 
go. The men then clapped on the hawser that led to the 
starboard quarter, and brought the ship's stern up over 
the kedge ; but here she hung, there not being sufficient 
wmd or current to force her bows round. A line had 
been bent to the bight in the stream cable, with a view to 
help wind the ship, and she now rode by the kedge, and 
this line, with her stern exposed to the steady and well 
directed fire of the Linnet. The port battery having been 
manned, Captain McDonough ordered all the men from 
the guns, where they were uselessly suffering, and sent 
them forward. By rowsing on the line, the ship was at 
length got so far round that the port aftermost gun 
would bear upon the Confiance, and it was instantly 
manned, and began to fire. The next gun was used in 
the same manner ; but it was soon apparent that the ship 
could be got no further round, for she was nearly end on 
to the wind. At this critical moment Mr. Brum, the 
Master, thought of the hawser which had been led to the 
port quarter before the action commenced. It was got 
forward, under the bows, and passed aft to the starboard 
quarter, when the ship's stern was immediately sprung 
to the westward, so as to bring all her port guns to bear 
on the English ship with immense effect. 

As soon as the preparations to wind the Saratoga were 
made, the Confiance attempted to perform the same 
evolution. Her springs were hauled on, but they merely 
forced the ship ahead ; and, having borne the fresh broad- 
side of the American- until she had scarcely a gun with 
which to return the fire, and failing in all her efforts to get 



142 BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

round, her commanding officer lowered his flag, about 
cwo hours and a quarter after the commencement of the 
action. 

By hauhng again upon the starboard hawser, the Sara- 
toga's broadside was immediately sprung to bear upon the 
Linnet, which brig struck, in about fifteen minutes after 
her consort. 

At this moment, the enemy's galleys had been driven 
back nearly or quite half a mile. They were irregularly 
scattered, and setting fast to leeward, while they kept up 
only a desultory firing, . As soon as they found the large 
vessels had submitted, they ceased firing, and lowered 
their colors ; and not a single British ensign was left 
flying in the bay, out of the sixteen or seventeen which 
had entered it so gallantly less than three hours before. 

Although this action was fought at anchor, it may be 
truly said that it was won as much by seamanship as by 
downright hard fighting. 

The foregoing account, as has been said, is taken prin- 
cipally from Cooper, whose account of this action is 
acknowledged, on all sides, to be entirely impartial ; while 
many capable persons have found fault with his account 
of Perry's victory on Lake Erie. 

In the long and bloody conflict of Plattsburg the Sara- 
toga had twenty-eight killed and twenty-nine wounded ; 
or more than one-fourth of all on board. The Eagle had 
thirteen killed and twenty wounded ; about the same 
proportionate loss. The Ticonderoga had six killed and 
six wounded. The Preble had two killed. The Saratoga 
was hulled fifty-five times, and the Eagle thirty-nine times. 

After the first destructive fire of the broadside of the 
Confiance, her fire became less formidable, the shot 
passing higher at each discharge. By her second broad- 
side nearly all the hammocks in the Saratoga's nettings 



BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 143 

were cut to pieces ; and it was seen, as the battle advanced, 
that the English shot cut the standing- rigging further and 
further from the deck. 

Few men were hurt, after the first fire, by anything but 
grape, or by the shot of the well-fought Linnet. ^This 
was a curious fact, considering the smooth water, and the 
ships being always at the same distance. The American 
officers came to the conclusion that the enemy had levelled 
his guns to point blank range, and that the quoins were 
not properiy replaced, after each discharge had loosened 
them. 

When the Confiance made her abortive attempt to 
wind, her decks were in great confusion, and after the 
batde, when the charges of her guns were drawn, one 
gun was found with a canvas bag, holding two round-shot, 
rammed home and wadded, without any powder ; another 
with two cartridges and no shot ; and a third with a wad 
below the cartridge. 

According to the report of the Captain of the Linnet, 
dated September 12th, the Confiance lost forty-one killed 
and forty wounded. At a later date the English them- 
selves stated the number of her wounded at 83. This 
included the slighdy hurt, no doubt ; and would make her 
total loss one hundred and twenty-four ; and that number 
was thought to be short of the truth. 

The Linnet is reported to have had ten killed and four- 
teen wounded; the Chubb six killed and ten wounded: 
while the Finch was reported by the English to have had 
but two men wounded. No American official report of 
the casualdes on board the English vessels was ever given, 
or at least published, nor was any report, of any kind,' 
given, of the loss in the English galleys, which were well 
up, during the action, and must have suffered severely. 
As soon as the Linnet struck a Lieutenant was sent to 



144 BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

take possession of the Confiance. She was found to be 
in a much worse condition tlian her special opponent, the 
Saratoga. The Confiance had been hulled one hundred 
and five times, had nearly if not quite half her people 
killed and wounded, and her battery entirely disabled. 

As the boarding officer was passing along the deck of the 
prize he accidentally ran against a lock-string, and thereby 
fired one of the Confiance' s starboard guns, which sent its 
shot towards Cumberland Head. Up to this moment the 
English galleys had been slowly drifting to leeward, with 
their colors down, apparently waiting to be taken posses- 
sion of; but at the discharge of the gun, which they 
appear to have understood as a signal, one or two of 
them began to move slowly off, and were soon after 
followed by the others, each pulling very few sweeps. It 
appears that they did not hoist their colors again. 

Captain McDonough made signal for the American 
galleys to follow ; but it was found that their men were 
needed at the pumps of the larger vessels, to keep them 
from sinking, the water being found over the berth-deck 
of the Linnet. The signal to chase was then revoked. 

As there was not a mast among the larger vessels 
which would bear any canvas, the English galleys escaped, 
going off, at first, slowly and irregularly, as if distrusting 
their own liberty. 

The turning point in the action just described was the 
winding of the Saratoga, so successfully accomplished, 
and next in importance was the defence of the rear of the 
line by the Ticonderoga, under Lieutenant Cassin. Once 
or twice the nearest vessels thought his vessel in flames, in 
consequence of the awful rapidity of her fire. 

The Saratoga was twice on fire, from hot shot thrown 
from the Confiance, and her spanker was nearly con- 



BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 145 

cUmed. The English flag-ship had a party of artillerists 
on board and a furnace for heating hot shot. 

Captain McDonough, whose reputation as an accom- 
plished officer was before high, gained a great accession of 
reputation from this day's proceedings. His disposition 
for receiving the attack was highly judicious and seaman- 
like. By the manner in which he anchored his vessels, 
with the shoals so near the rear of his line as to cover that 
extremity, and the land of Cumberland Head so near his 
broadside as necessarily to bring the enemy within reach 
of his carronades, he made all his force completely avail- 
able. The English were not quite near enough to give to 
carronades their full effect, but this disadvantage was un- 
avoidable, the assailing party having, of course, the choice 
of the distance. 

" The personal deportment of Captain McDonough in 
this engagement was the subject of general admiration 
in his little squadron. His coolness was undisturbed, 
throughout all the trying scenes on board his own ship, 
and, although lying against a vessel of double the force 
and nearly double the tonnage of the Saratoga, he met 
and resisted her attack with a constancy that seemed to 
set defeat at defiance." The winding of the Saratoga, 
under such circumstances, exposed, as she was, to the 
raking fire of the Confiance and Linnet, especially the 
latter, was a bold, seamanlike, and masterly measure, that 
required unusual decision and fortitude to imagine and 
execute. 

Most men would have believed that, without a single 
gun on the side engaged, a fourth of their people cut 
down, and their ship a wreck, enough injury had been 
received to justify submission ; but McDonough found 
the means to secure a victory, even in the desperate 
situation of the Saratoga, 



146 LATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

Captain Downie's personal conduct and gallantry were 
beyond censure, yet the prudence and the nautical merits 
of his mode of attack have been much censured. 

The Confiance had been built in so short a time, and by 
exertions so great, as to put it out of the power of the 
Americans, to construct a vessel of her size in sufficient 
season to meet her, and it would be accusing the enemy 
of imbecility to suppose that, after the known result of 
many combats, he had not made his vessel of ample force 
to ensure victory. 

Few naval men will deny that a ship with the gun-deck 
dimensions, metal and battery of a 44, ought to have been 
fully equal, at least, to contend with two such vessels 
as the Saratoga and Eagle. This admitted, it follows 
that Downie had much the superior force. 

The plan of the campaign that was destroyed by this 
defeat ; the high objects in view ; the fact that the English 
were the assailants, and that they could not but know the 
force they were to attack, together with all the attendant 
circumstances, were so many assurances that the batde ot 
Plattsburg Bay was fought, on the part of the enemy, with 
a confidence of victory only justified by this known 
advantage. The very name given to their largest ship 
was a pledge to this effect. 

Sir James Yeo, whose command extended to Lake 
Champlain, complained that Captain Downie had been 
hurried into action by the Governor General, before he 
was prepared ; but he did not complain of an Insufficiency 
of force. That Downie went into action before his own 
crew and vessel had been long subject to drill and 
preparation. Is true; but McDonough was laboring under 
precisely the same disadvantage. 

These are the incidents and drawbacks peculiar to 



BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 147 

sudden enterprises, and they must be met by the resources 
of true seamen. 

The Constitution took the Guerrlere with a crew that 
had been acting together but little more than a month ; 
and she was manoeuvring before the English squadron, 
off New York — a much more delicate business — within 
five days of the time that a large proportion of her crew 
had joined her. 

Captain Downie's professional character, as well as his 
published declarations, prove that he considered the 
Confiance ready to meet an enemy. Sir James Yeo, 
with greater reason than he had for his former complaint, 
said that Captain Downie stood square Into the bay to 
make his attack — and by this exposed himself to a raking 
fire, which, no doubt, contributed to the loss of the day. 

The leading into a hostile squadron bows on had 
frequently been practiced by the English in European 
waters, with comparative impunity. But it was an 
eminently hazardous experiment to make under the guns 
of an American man-of-war. Still, Downie's bearing 
was highly gallant, and assuring to his ships' companies. 
The weatherly position he attained was much in his favor ; 
and, judging from the force of his own vessel, could he 
have got the berth he aimed at, there is great reason to 
think he would have been successful. That he was foiled, 
must be attributed to the immovable steadiness, cooj 
deliberation, and admirable fire of the people he assailed. 

Although many of the American officers were wounded, 
but two commissioned officers were killed. These were 
Mr. Gamble, whose death has already been alluded to ; 
and Mr, Stansbury, the first lieutenant of the Ticon- 
deroga. 

Mr. Stansbury suddenly disappeared from the bulwarks, 
forward, while superintending some duty with the springs. 



\48 BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

Two days after the action his body rose to the surface, 
near his own ship, and it was found to have been cut in 
two by a round shot. 

Many officers were knocked down, during the engage- 
ment, without havinof blood drawn. At one moment there 
was a cry on board the Saratoga, that Captain McDonough 
was killed. He was lying on his face, on the quarter-deck, 
nearly senseless, and it was two or three minutes before 
he recovered. During most of the action he sighted a 
favorite gun, and, while bending his body to sight it, a 
shot cut the spanker boom in two, letting the spar fall 
upon his back, a blow which might easily have proved 
fatal. 

In a few minutes the cry that "the Commodore" was 
killed was again heard. This time McDonough was 
lying on the deck, between two guns, covered with blood, 
and again nearly senseless. A shot had driven the head 
of the captain of his favorite gun in upon him, and 
knocked him into the scuppers. He soon recovered, as 
the blood turned out to be that of the unfortunate man. 

Mr. Brum, the Master, a venerable old seaman, while 
engaged in winding the ship, had a large splinter driven 
so near his body that it actually stripped off his clothing. 
He was thought to be dead, but soon recovered, reo^ained 
his feet, and, making an apron of his pocket-handkerchief, 
coolly went to work again at the springs. 

A few months after the batde this veteran died ; as it 
was thought, from the injury. 

Lieutenant Vallette -had a shot-box on which he was 
standing, knocked from under his feet; and he, also, was 
once knocked down by the head of a seaman, and at 
about the same time received a severe splinter wound. 

In short, very few escaped altogether; and in this 
desperate fight it appears to have been agreed, on both 



BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 149 

sides, to call no man wounded who could keep out of tlie 
hospital. Mr. Smith, the First Lieutenant of the Eagle., 
was severely wounded; but returned to his quarters, after 
his wound was dressed. 

On the part of the enemy, beside Captain Downie, 
several officers were killed, and three or four were 
wounded. 

Beside the usual medal from Consfress for a successful 
engagement. Captain McDonough received compliments 
and gifts from several States, and was promoted. 

The Legislature of New York presented him with a 
small estate on Cumberland Head, which overlooked the 
scene of his triumphs. 

His officers and crews met with the customary 
acknowledgments, and the country generally rated the 
victory by the side of that of Lake Erie. 

The Navy, best able to judge of all the circumstances, 
has always placed the batde of Plattsburg Bay among the 
very highest of its claims to glory. 

The consequences of the victory were immediate, and 
very important. 

During the naval action. Sir Geo. Prevost had skirmished 
In front of the American entrenchments, and was evidently 
upon the point of bringing up his overwhelming force for 
a more serious attack. As soon, however, as he ascer- 
tained the fate of the British squadron, he made a precipi- 
tate and most unmilitary retreat ; abandoning much of 
his heavy artillery, stores, and supplies ; and from that 
moment, till the end of the war, the northern frontier was 
cleared of the enemy. 

Commodore McDonough died. In 1825, of consumption, 
at the age of 42, while In command of the Mediterranean 
squadron, with his flag In the Constitution. 



CONSTITUTION IN ACTION WITH CYANE AND 
LEVANT. 1815. 




HIS remarkable action has always excited 
great interest among naval men, on ac-. 
count of the nautical ability displayed by 
Captain Stewart, and the very capital 
manner in which his officers and men 
seconded him, not only during the action 
itself, but in his subsequent escape from 
a superior force. 
In the year 1813, during the war with Great Britain, 
the frigate Constitution (that favorite and most useful 
ship, already celebrated for her capture of the Guerriere, 
and for her remarkable escape from the pursuit of an 
English squadron) was found to be so decayed as to 
require extensive repairs. Her crew was therefore trans- 
ferred to the Lakes, and when she was again ready for 
sea, a new one was shipped for her, and Captain Stewart 
was ordered to her command. 

Charles Stewart was born in Philadelphia, in July, 1778 
Going to sea in the merchant service at the age of thirteen, 
he rose to the command of an East Indiaman while still 
a youth. Upon the organization of the Navy, in 1 798, 
he was appointed a Lieutenant. After seeing consider 
able active service in the West Indies, during which, In 
command of the schooner Experiment, he captured three 
French privateers, he went to the Mediterranean, In 1802, 



Constitution, cyane and levant. 153 

as first lieutenant of the Constellation. Here he saw 
service against Tripoli. The next year he had command 
of the brig Syren, and convoyed the party, in the ketch 
Intrepid, which destroyed the frigate Philadelphia. After 
continued service against the Tripolitans he was named 
the Senior Master Commandant, in 1804. Returning 
home, he was promoted to Captain, and for some time 
employed in New York in superintending the construction 
of gun-boats, after which he returned to the merchant 
service for several years. During the war of 181 2 he 
commanded the Constellation and the Constitution. 

After the war he was long a.nd honorably employed, 
both at sea and on shore, and was retired as Senior 
Commodore, in 1856, at the age of 78. In 1862 
he was made a Rear Admiral, on the Retired List He 
died at Bordentown, New Jersey, November 6th, 1869, 
aged 91, having been the senior officer of the Navy for 
1 7 years, and having been 7 1 years In the service. 

The repairs of the Constitution occupied so much time 
that Stewart was not able to put to sea until the winter of 
18 14, when he made a cruise down our Southern coast 
and through the West Indies. 

On her way from the Caribbean Sea she fell In with 
and chased the Pique, an English 32, which escaped her 
in the night ; but she soon after captured the English 
man-of-war schooner Pictou, 14, and several merchantmen. 
When the frigate arrived on the American coast she was 
seen by two British frigates which were cruising in 
company, and chased Into Marblehead ; but shordy after 
managed to get out again and reach Boston. 

About the middle of December she left Boston on 
another cruise and ran off to Bermuda, and thence to the 
neighborhood of Lisbon. Not finding either ai armed 
10 



154 THE CONSTITUTION, CYANE AND LEVANT. 

enemy or a valuable prize, she next went into the Bay of 
Biscay, but with a like want of success. 

Again she returned to the vicinity of Lisbon, and cruised 
for some time In the very high road of commerce, but 
only took one or two prizes, of very moderate value. 
During this time she was In sight of the British ship 
Elizabeth, 74, yet the state of wind and weather prevented 
them from coming in collision. 

Finding nothing to reward a further stay off Lisbon, 
Captain Stewart, on the 20th of February, 18 15, ordered 
the helm put up, and ran off, south-west, about sixty miles. 
At one p. M. of that day a strange sail was seen on the 
port bow, and the Constitution was hauled up two or three 
points, and sail made. In chase. The stranger was 
soon made out to be a ship ; and, half an hour later, a 
second vessel was seen, further to leeward, which was 
soon ascertained to be another ship. 

The Constitution held her course, all three vessels 
being upon a bowline, or close hauled, until 4 p. m., when 
the nearest of the strange ships made a signal to the one 
to leeward, and shortly after kept away and ran down 
toward her consort, who was about eight miles to leeward. 

No doubt was now entertained, on board the Constitu- 
tion, that the strange sails were enemies. The nearest 
ship had the appearance of a small frigate, and the vessel 
to leeward that of a large sloop-of-war. 

The first was seen to be carrying studding-sails on both 
"ides, while the second was running off under short 
canvas, evidently waiting for her consort to close. 

Captain Stewart came to the conclusion that they were 
going to try to escape, and were keeping away on their 
best point of sailing until nightfall, when It would be 
comparatively easy to dodge him. He, therefore, crowded 
upon the Constitution every sail that would draw, with a 



CONSTITUTION, CYANE AND LEVANT. 155 

view to getting tlie nearest vessel under nis guns. In the 
course of the afternoon the Constitution carried away her 
main-royal-mast, a defective spar, and the chase began to 
gain. Stewart now fired a few times from his chase guns, 
but finding that the shot fell short, soon ceased. 

By half-past five it was seen that it was impossible to 
prevent the strange sails from forming a junction, and the 
Constitution, then a little more than three miles distant 
from the furthest ship, cleared for action. Ten minutes 
later the two strange sails passed within hail of each 
other, and, coming by the wind, with their heads to the 
northward, hauled up their courses, and were evidently 
clearing to engage. Soon they both suddenly made sail, 
close by the wind, evidently in order to weather upon the 
American frigate. But perceiving that the latter was 
closing very fast, they again hauled up their courses and 
formed upon the wind, the smallest ship ahead. 

By six in the evening the Constitution had them within 
gun-shot, and she then showed her ensign. The other 
ships at once set the English colors. Five minutes later 
the American ship ranged up abeam of the sternmost and 
largest English vessel, at about a cable's length distance, 
passing ahead with her sails lifting, until the three ships 
formed nearly an equilateral triangle, the Constitution 
being to windward. In this favorable and masterly posi- 
tion the action began, the three keeping up a hot and 
unceasing fire for about fifteen minutes, when that of the 
English sensibly slackened. 

The sea was now covered with a dense cloud of smoke, 
and Stewart ceased firing. Soon the smoke cleared away, 
and the moon having risen, the leading ship of the enemy 
was seen under the Constitution's lee beam, while the 
sternmost was luffing up, evidently intending to tack, 
and cross the American frigate's stern. Delivering a 



156 THE CONSTITUTION, CYANE AND LEVANt. 

broadside at the ship abreast of her, the Constitution threw 
her main and mizzen top-sails, with the top-gallant-sails 
set, flat back, shook everything forward, and let fly her 
jib-sheets, so that she backed swiftly astern, compelling 
the English vessel to fill away, in order to avoid being 
raked. This ship now attempted to tack, to cross the 
Constitution's fore-foot, when the latter filled, boarded her 
fore-tack, shot ahead, and forced her antagonist to wear 
under a raking broadside, and to run off to leeward to 
escape the weight of the American fire. The Constitution, 
perceiving that the largest ship was wearing also, wore in 
her turn, and crossing her stern, raked her with effect, 
although the Englishman came by the wind immediately, 
and delivered her port broadside. As the Constitution 
then ranged up close on her weather quarter, she struck. 
A lieutenant was at once sent to take possession, the 
prize proving to be the British ship Cyane, Capt. Falcon. 

The other ship, which had run off to leeward, had no 
intention of abandoning her consort, but had been forced 
out of the fight by the crippled condition of her running 
rigging, as well as by the weight of the Constitution's 
fire. She was ignorant of the capture of the Cyane, and, 
at the end of about an hour, having repaired damages, 
she hauled up to look for her consort, and met the 
American frigate coming down in quest of her. It was 
nearly nine o'clock before the two ships crossed each 
other, on opposite tacks, the Constitution to windward ; 
and the English sloop pluckily exchanged broadsides 
with her, as they passed. She very naturally found the 
Constitution's fire too heavy for her, and Immediately bore 
up, in doing which she got a raking broadside. 

The Constitution then boarded her fore-tack, and made 
sail after her, keeping up a very effective chasing fire 
from her two bow guns, nearly every shot of which told- 



CONSTITUTION, CYANE AND LEVANT. 157 

The two ships were, indeed, so near each other that the 
ripping of the enemy's planks, as the shot struck, was 
heard on board the American ship. There was no chance 
for the English sloop, which was unable to stand this 
treatment very long, and at lo p. m. he came by the wind, 
fired a lee gun, and hauled down his ensign. When taken 
possession of she was found to be the Levant, i8, the Hon. 
Capt. Douglas. 

During this cruise the Constitution mounted fifty-two 
guns ; and she had a complement of about four hundred and 
seventy officers and men, a few of whom were absent in 
a prize. The Cyane was a frigate-built ship, that properly 
rated wenty-four guns, although in Steele's list she 
appeared as only a twenty. But she mounted twenty-two 
32-pound carronades on her gun deck, and ten 1 8-pound 
carronades and two chase guns on her quarter deck and 
forecastle ; making thirty-four guns in all. 

The Levant was a new ship, rated as an eighteen. She 
mounted eighteen 3 2 -pound carronades ; a shifting 18 on 
her top-gallant forecastle, and two chase guns ; making 
twenty-one In all. 

There were taken from the Cyane 168 prisoners, oi 
whom 26 were wounded. The precise number of killed 
on board of her was never ascertained. Captain Stewart, 
probably judging from an examination of her muster-roll, 
computed it at twelve ; while the English accounts differ, 
some putting the killed at only four, and others at six. 
Probably it was between the highest and lowest estimates. 
Her regular crew was about one hundred and eighty-five, 
all told ; and there is no reason to believe that it was not 
nearly full. Captain Stewart supposed that she had about 
one hundred and eighty on board during the action. 

The Levant's regular complement is said to have been 
one Hundred and thirty, all told ; but a statement was 



158 THE CONSTITUTION, CYANE AND LEVANT. 

published in Barbadoes. where some of her officers shortly 
after went, that there were a good many supernumeraries 
in both the English vessels, who were going to the 
Western Islands, to bring away a ship that was building 
there. 

Stewart supposed the Levant to have had one hundred 
and fifty-six men in the action, of whom he believed 
twenty-three to have been killed and sixteen wounded. 
This estimate may have been too high, but the exact truth 
was never known. 

It is believed that no English official account of this 
action was ever published, but the Barbadoes statement 
makes the joint loss of the two ships ten killed and 
twenty-eighty wounded. Other English accounts make 
it forty-one in all. Captain Stewart's account of the 
wounded must certainly have been correct, whatever may 
have been the other estimates he made. Their loss, when 
exposed to the heavy and destructive fire of the Constitu- 
tion, handled with the skill that that frigate was, could not 
fail to be very considerable. 

The Constitution had three men killed and twelve 
wounded. 

By midnight of the 20th the frigate was ready for 
another engagement. She was not very much cut up 
for, although it was nearly four hours from the time the 
action began until the Levant struck, the actual fighting 
did not occupy three-quarters of an hour. 

Considering that it was a night action the execution, 
on both sides, was remarkable ; the English firing much 
better than usual. 

The Constitution was hulled oftener in this action, than 
in both her previous batdes, although she suffered less in 
crew than in the combat she had with the Java. She had 
not an officer hurt. 



CONSTITUTION, CYANE ANI; LEVANT. 



16-9 



The manner in which Captain Stewart handled his ship 
on this occasion was the subject of praise among nautical 
men, of all nations, as it was an unusual thing for a single 
ship to engage two opponents and avoid being raked. 
So far from this occurring to the Constitution, however, 
she actually raked both her opponents, and the manner 
in which she backed and filled, in the smoke, forcing her 
two antagonists down to leeward, when they were en- 
deavoring to cross her stern, or her fore-foot, is as brilliant 
manoeuvring as any recorded In naval annals. 

It is due to a gallant enemy to say that Captain Douglas 
commanded the entire respect of the Americans by his 
intrepidity and perseverance in standing by his consort. 
The necessity of securing possession of the Cyane em- 
ployed the Constitution for some time, and o-ave the 
Levant an opportunity of making off ; but of this he nobly 
refused to avail himself. 

Captain Stewart proceeded, with his two prizes, to Porto 
Praya, in Saint Jago, Cape de Verdes, where he arrived 
on the I oth of March. At this place a vessel was chartered 
for a cartel, and more than a hundred of the prisoners 
were landed, to assist in fitting her for sea. 

On the nth of March, at a litde after noon, while a 
party from the Constitution was absent in a cutter, to 
bring the cartel close down to the frigate, Mr. Shubrick, 
who was acting as First Lieutenant, was walking the 
quarter-deck, when his attention was attracted by a 
hurried exclamation from one of the English midshipmen, 
that a large ship was in the offing. A severe reprimand, 
in a low tone, followed from one of the English Captains. 
On looking over the quarter Mr. Shubrick ascertained 
the cause. The sea, outside the roads, was covered with 
a heavy fog, which did not, however, rise very high, so 
that above it the upper sails of a large vessel were visible. 



yQQ THE CUiNSTlTUTION, CYANE AND LEVANT. 

She was close hauled, on the wind, standing in shore, 
and evidently coming into the roads. 

After examining the strange sail the Lieutenant went 
below and reported to Captain Stewart. The latter at 
once remarked that, from the Lieutenant's description, 
she must be either an Enorlish frio-ate or a larg^e India- 
man ; and he directed all hands to be called, so as to get 
ready and go out to attack her. 

The officer had no sooner given the order to call all 
hands than he turned to take another look at the stranger, 
vv'hen he discovered the canvas of two other vessels rising 
over the fog bank, in the same direction. 

They were evidently men-of-war, and heavy ships ; 
and were at once reported to the Captain. That prompt, 
cool, and decided officer did not hesitate an instant as to 
the course he was to take. He knew very well that the 
ships were probably English ; and that they would dis- 
regard the neutrality of any port that had not force 
enough to resist them, or which did not belong to a nation 
they were bound to respect. 

He immediately ordered the Constitution's cable cut, 
and got underway, at the same time making signal for 
his prizes to follow his motions. 

In ten minutes after the order had been given, and in 
fourteen minutes after the first ship had been seen, the 
American frigate was standing out of the road, under 
her three top-sails. The cool and officer-like manner in 
which sail was made and the ship cast has been much 
extolled; not an instant having been lost by hurry or 
confusion. Her prizes followed her with like promptitude. 

The harbor is to leeward of the island, and the north- 
east trades prevail there, and the three vessels passed out 
to sea hugging the easterly point ; and being then about 
M. gunshot to windward of the strange squadron. As 



CONSTITUTION, CYANE AND LEVANT. 161 

soon as she was clear of the east point the Constitution 
crossed top-gallant-yards, boarded her tacks, and set all 
light sail that would draw. The English prisoners who 
l:ad been sent on shore at once took possession of a 
Portugese battery, and fired at the frigate as she passed 
out, thus drawing the attention of the incoming ships. 

As soon as the Constitution and her prizes had gained 
the weather beam of the enemy, the latter tacked, and 
the six ships stood off to the southward and eastward, 
with a ten-knot breeze, and carrying everything that 
would draw. 

The fog bank sdll lay so thick upon the water as to 
conceal the hulls of the strange ships ; but they were sup- 
posed to be two line of batde-ships and a large frigate ; 
the vessel most astern and to leeward being the Commo- 
dore. The strange frigate weathered upon all the 
American ships, and gained upon the Cyane and Levant, 
but fell astern of the Constitudon ; while the larger 
vessels on that frigate's lee quarter held way with her. 
As soon as she was clear of the land the Consdtudon 
cut adrift two of her boats, which were towing astern, the 
enemy pressing her too hard to allow of their being 
hoisted in. 

The Cyane gradually dropped astern and to leeward, 
rendering it certain that, if she stood on, the most 
weatherly of the pursuing vessels would soon be along- 
side of her ; so, at about one p. m. Captain Stewart made 
signal for her to tack. This order the Prize Master, Lieu- 
tenant Hoffman, at once obeyed, and It was expected that 
one of the chasing vessels would go about, and follow 
her, but this hope was disappointed. 

The Cyane, finding that she was not pursued, stood on 
undl she was lost In the fog, when Mr. Hoffman tacked 
again, supposing that the enemy might chase him to lee- 



162 THE CONSTITUTP. N, CYANE AND LEVANT. 

ward. This officer very prudently improved his advan- 
tage by keeping long enough on that tack to allow the 
enemy to pass ahead, should they pursue him, and then 
he squared away for America, and arrived safely, in New 
York, on the loth of April. 

The three sliips still continued to chase the Constitu- 
tion and the Levant ; and although, as they left the land 
the fog lessened, it still lay so low and dense as to put in 
doubt the exact force of the strange vessels. 

The English officers who were prisoners on board the 
Constitution affirmed that the ship which was getting into 
her wake was the Acasta, 40, Captain Kerr, a ship which 
carried 24-pounders ; and It was thought that the three 
composed a squadron that was known to be cruising for 
the American ships President, Peacock, and Hornet ; con- 
sisting of the Lcander, 50, Sir George Collier; New- 
castle, 50, Lord George Stuart; and the Acasta. They 
subsequently proved to be those very ships. 

The vessel on the lee quarter of the Constitution was 
the Newcastle, and by half-past two the fog had got so 
iow that her officers were seen standing on the hammock 
cloths, though the line of her ports was not visible. 

She now began to fire by divisions, and some opinion 
of her armament could be formed as her guns flashed 
through the fog. Her shot struck the water quite close 
to the American ship, but did not rise again. 

By three in the afternoon the Levant had fallen so far 
astern that she was In the same danger as the Cyane 
had been, and Captain Stewart made her signal to tack. 

Mr. Ballard, her prize-master, immediately did so, and 
a few minutes later the three English ships tacked, by 
signal, and chased the prize, leaving the Constitution 
steering In an opposite direction, and going eleven knots. 

Lieutenant Ballard, finding the enemy bent upon 



CONSTITUTION, CYANE AND LEVANT, 163 

following- the Levant, and that the Acasta was to wind- 
ward of her wake, ran baclv into Porto Praya, where 
he anchored at about four in the afternoon, within one 
hundred and fifty yards of the shore, and under a 
strong battery. The enemy's ships followed her in, 
having commenced firing as soon as it was seen that she 
would gain the anchorage, and, after bearing their fire 
for some time, her colors were hauled down. The 
English prisoners who had seized the shore battery 
also fired upon her; but litde injury was done, as Mr. 
Ballard caused his men to lie down on deck as soon as 
the anchor was let go. 

Sir George Collier was much criticised for the course 
he pursued on this occasion. It was certainly a mistake on 
his part to call off more than one ship to chase the Levant, 
although it may be said that the position of the Leander, 
in the fog, and so far to leeward and astern, did not give 
the senior officer the best opportunity for observing the 
true condition of affairs. There was certainly every 
prospect of the Acasta's bringing the Consdtution to 
action in the course of the night, if she had kept up the 
pursuit. 

The result would, of course, have been very doubtful, 
as her consorts would have been far astern by that time , 
but she could probably have sufficiently disabled the 
American frigate as to render her ultimate capture certain. 

Whatever may be thought of the conduct of the enemy, 
there could be but one opinion in regard to that of 
Captain Stewart. 

His promptitude in deciding upon his course when the 
enemy were first sighted, the good judgment with which he 
ordered the prizes to vary their courses, and the general 
steadiness of conduct on board the Constitution, advanced 



164 THE CONSTITUTION, CYANE AND LLVANT. 

to an exalted position a professional reputation which was 
already very high. 

This action and the subsequent chase terminated the 
exploits of the favorite ship which he commanded — as far 
as that war was concerned. 

Stewart, after landing his prisoners at Maranham, 
went to Porto Rico, where he learned that peace was 
proclaimed ; and he at once carried the ship to New 
York. 

In the course of two years and nine months the 

Constitution had been in three actions ; had been twice 

critically chased, and had captured five vessels of war, 

two of which were frif^ates, and one fri(:^ate built 

• . . . 
In all her service, as well before Tripoli as in this war, 

her good fortune was remarkable. She was never 

dismasted ; never got on shore ; and suffered scarcely 

any of the usual accidents of the sea. 

Though so often in action, no serious slaughter ever 

took place on board of her. One of her Commanders 

was wounded, and four of her Lieutenants had been 

killed, two on her decks, and two in the Intrepid. But, 

on the whole, she was what is usually called a "lucky ship." 

This was probably due to the fact that she had always 

been ably commanded ; and in her last two cruises had 

as fine a crew as ever manned a ship. They were mostly 

New England men, and it has been said that they were 

almost qualified to fight the ship without her officers. 




MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. MARCH yTH, 1862. 




HE United States Navy Department had 
been informed that the Confederate 
authorities had raised the hull of the fine 
frigate Merrimac, which had been burned 
at the Navy Yard at Norfolk, at the 
breaking out of the civil war, and had 
erected a huge iron casemate upon her. 
With her engines in good working order, 
It was confidently expected by the Confederates that this 
novel and formidable craft would be able to capture or 
destroy tl-ie Union fleet, in Hampton Roads, raise the 
blockade at the Capes of Virginia, -and proceed to 
Washington, when the Capitol would be at the mercy 
of her powerful battery. This battery consisted of ten 
heavy rifled guns. 

In those days nothing was known about ironclads, and 
as week after week passed, and the monster, so often 
spoken of by the Norfolk papers, which was to clear 
out Hampton Roads, and to brush away the "insolent 
frigates " which were blockading the James River at 
Newport News did not appear, people began to regard 
her as a bugbear. At any rate, the Union frigates were 
very sure that. If they could once get her under their 
broadsides, they would soon send her to the bottom. 

About the ist of March, 1862, a Norfolk newspape, 
contained a violent attack upon the Confederate authori- 



166 MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 

ties for their bad management in regard to the Merrlmac, 
or " Virginia," as they had re-christened her. The paper 
declared that her plating was a failure, that her machinery 
was defective, and that she very nearly sank when brought 
oat of dock. This was all a ruse, for she was then 
making trials of machinery, and had her officers and 
crew on board and under drill. 

The Navy Department was better informed than those 
in the immediate vicinity, and hurried up the means it 
had created to meet the ironclad. 

In Hampton Roads, at that time, were the Minnesota, 
a. fine steam-frigate, the Roanoke, of the same size, but 
crippled in machinery, and several other vessels of much 
less powtT, together with numerous transports, coal-ships, 
and others. 

A few miles above, at Newport News, lay the Congress, 
a sailing frigate of 50 guns, and the Cumberland, a heavy 
iloop of 24 guns. These were the "insolent frigates" 
which, during many preceding months, had entirely 
prevented the Confederates from using the water com- 
munication between Richmond and Norfolk. The danger 
in leaving these vessels, without steam, in such a position, 
was fully recognized, and they were to be replaced by 
others about the middle of March. 

On shore, at Newport News, was a camp of about four 
thousand men ; and the Congress and Cumberland lay 
just off this camp, in the fair way of the channel, and 
about a quarter of a mile apart ; the Cumberland being 
the furthest up the James river. 

On Saturday, the 8th of March, the Merrimac at last 
appeared, accompanied by two or three tugs armed with 
rifled guns, and joined, eventually, by two armed merchant 
steamers from up the James. The Merrimac moved with 
great deliberation, and was seen from the vessels ar 



MERRIMAC AND MOOTTOR. jq^ 



Newport News, coming- down the channel from Norfolk, 
towards Sewell's point, at about half-past twelve. She 
could not then be seen from Hampton Roads, but when 
she did at last show herself clear of the point, there was 
great commotion there. But she turned up, at a right 
angle, and came up the channel toward Newport 
News. It is said by some that she came by a channel 
not generally known, or, at least, not commonly used. 

The tide had just turned ebb, and the time selected 
was the best for the iron-clad, and the worst for the 
vessels at Newport News, for their sterns were down 
stream, and they could not be sprung round. 
^ The Merrimac approached these ships with ominous 
silence and deliberation. The officers were gathered on 
the poops of the vessels, hazarding all sorts of conjec- 
tures in regard to the strange craft, and, when k was 
plain she was coming to attack them, or to force the 
passage, the drum beat to quarters. By about two o'clock 
the strange monster was close enough to make out her 
ports and plating, and the Congress fired at her from a 
stern gun. The projectile, a 32-pound shot, bounced off 
the casemate as a pebble would. 

The ironclad threw open her forward poi is, and 
answered with grape, killing and wounding quite a 
number on board the Congress. Then she st^'eamed up 
past that frigate, at a distance of less than two hundred 
yards, receiving a broadside, and giving one in return. 
The shot of the Congress had no effect upon the Merri- 
mac; but the broadside of the latter, upon the wooden 
frigate, had created great destruction. One of her shells 
dismounted an 8-inch gun, and either killed or wounded 
every one of the gun's crew. The slaughter at other 
guns was fearful. There were comparatively few 
wounded, the shells killing, as a general rule. 



168 MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 

After this broadside the Merrimac passed up the 
stream, and the Congress* men, supposing she had had 
enough of it, began to cheer ; and for many of them it 
was the last cheer they were ever to give. The iron-clad 
went up stream far enough to turn at right angles, and 
ran into the Cumberland with her ram. The Cumber- 
land began to fill, at once, and in a few minutes sank, her 
flag flying, and having kept up her fire as long as her 
gun-deck was above water. Her mizzen-top remained 
out of water, but it was deeper under her forward part, 
and her fore and main top went under. A small freight 
boat, of the quartermaster's department, and some tugs 
and row-boats put off from the wharf at the camp, to save 
the lives of her crew. These were fired at by the Rebel 
gun-boats, and the boiler of the freight boat was pierced, 
and the wharf itself damaged, but the greater part of 
those in the water were saved. 

The Cumberland lost one hundred and seventeen out 
of three hundred on board. Buchanan, the Captain of 
the Merrimac, hailed Morris, the First Lieutenant of the 
Cumberland, and temporarily in command, saying, " Do 
you surrender?" "No, Sir!" shouted back Morris, whose 
ship was then sinking. The last gun was fired by acting 
Master Randall, now in the navy, but retired. The ship 
heeled suddenly as she sank, and the ladders were either 
thrown down, or became almost perpendicular, so as to 
render it difficult to get on deck. The Chaplain was 
drowned, on this account. One of the gunners' mates got 
up safely, however, all the way from the magazine, and 
swam to the mizzen-top. The marine drummer boy was 
pushed and hoisted up by some of the men, holding fast 
to his drum, which he saved, and creating laughter, even 
at that terrible moment, by the way in which he clung 
to it 



MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 171 

When the survivors of the Cumberland reache the 
shore they were enthusiastically received by the soldiers, 
and flasks of whisky, plugs of tobacco, and other soldiers' 
and sailors' luxuries, forced upon them. Captain Radford, 
of the Cumberland, now Admiral Radford, was at Hamp- 
ton Roads, sitting on a court-martial, when the Merrimac 
ran out. He went on shore, got a horse, and rode madly, 
in hopes of reaching Newport News in time; but he only 
got there to see his pendant waving from the truck, and 
sweeping the water which had swallowed up so many of 
his fine crew. 

In ramming the Cumberland the Merrimac had twisted 
her prow or beak, but the leak it occasioned was not 
noticed at once. She then turned down stream, to renew 
her attack upon the Congress. The latter ship had been 
set on fire by the shell of the first broadside, and one of 
the seats of fire was aft, near the after magazine ; this was 
never extinguished, and was the eventual cause of her 
destruction. 

Seeing the fate of the Cumberland, which sank in deep 
water, the Congress slipped her chains, set the top-sails 
and jib, and with the help of the tug Zouave, ran on the 
flat which makes off from Newport News point. Here 
she heeled over, as the tide continued to fall, leaving only 
two 32-pounders which could be fought, and these were 
in the stern ports, on the gun-deck. 

The Minnesota and one or two other vessels had started 
up to the relief of the Congress and Cumberland, but they 
got on shore before they had achieved half the distance. It 
turned out to be well, for they would otherwise probably 
have shared the fate of the Cumberland, in which case the 
lives of their crews would have been uselessly jeopardized. 
It was about half-past two when the Merrimac came to 
attack the Congress once more. She took up a position 



172 MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 

about one hundred and fifty yards astern of her, and 
deliberately raked her with rifled shells, while the small 
steamers all concentrated their guns upon the same 
devoted ship. A great many were now killed on board 
the Congress, including two officers. The ship kept 
up a fire from her two stern guns, having the crews 
swept away from them repeatedly. At last they were 
both dismounted. Nearly all the men in the powder 
division, below, were killed by this raking fire. This 
division was in charge of Paymaster Buchanan, who was 
a brother of the Captain of the Merrimac. Those now 
fared best whose duty kept them on the spar-deck. Even 
the wounded in the cockpit were killed, and the shells 
were momentarily setting fire to new places, rendering it 
necessary to drench the quarters of the wounded with 
ice-cold water. The commanding officer, Lieutenant 
Joseph B. Smith, was killed by a shell at this time. 

The Congress had now borne this fire for nearly an 
hour, and had no prospect of assistance from any quarter, 
and was unable to fire a shot in return. 

Under these circumstances there was nothing to do but 
to haul down the flag. A small gun-boat came alongside, 
the commanding officer of which said he had orders to 
take the people out, and burn the vessel. But before 
many could get on board the steamer she was driven 
off by the sharp-shooters of a regiment on shore. They 
now all opened on the Congress again, although she had 
a white flag flying, and could not be responsible for the 
actions of the soldiers on shore. After about fifteen 
minutes more, however, they all went down to attack 
the Minnesota, which ship was hard and fast aground. 
Fortunately they could not approach very near her, on 
account of the state of the tide, and night now drawing 



MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 173 

on, the whole flotilla withdrew, and proceeded up the 
Norfolk channel. 

It was now necessary for the survivors of the Congress 
to get on shore as soon as possible, and this was done, 
by about dark, by means of the two boats which had the 
fewest shot-holes in them. These made repeated trips, 
H:aking the wounded first, and the officers last, and the 
wearied and exhausted people were hospitably received 
in the camp. 

The poor old ship, deserted by all but the dead, who 
were left lying just as they fell, burned till about midnight, 
when she blew up, with a report that was heard for many 
miles. 

The next morning was fine, but hazy, but it soon 
became clear, as if to afford an uninterrupted view of the 
first ironclad fight. 

The camp was early astir ; the regiments drawn up in 
line of battle, while the survivors of the two ships' 
companies manned the howitzers and field pieces in the 
earthworks to the west of the camp. For it was certain 
the Merrlmac would return that morning, to complete 
her work, while Information had been received that 
General Magruder, with a large force, was marching over 
from Yorktown, to take the camp in the rear, and thus, in 
conjunction with the ironclad, force a surrender. 

About six o'clock the Merrlmac was seen, through the 
haze, coming down again, apparendy intending to attack 
the Minnesota, which ship was still aground. Her pro- 
ceedings were watched with breathless interest by thou- 
sands, on all sides of the broad sheet of water, which 
formed an amphitheatre, so to speak, on the southern 
side of which the spectators were filled with hope and 
confidence, while to the north well-grounded apprehension 
was felt. Passing up the James River channel again, the 



174 MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 

Merrimac opened fire upon the Minnesota with her bow 
guns, hulling- her once or twice, when, suddenly, there 
darted out from under the shadows of the huge frigate 
a -litde raft4ike vessel, almost flush with the water, and 
bearing on her deck a round, black turret. 

At first no one in the camp seemed to know what it 
was, or how it came there, but at last it was conceded that 
it must be the strano-e, new ironclad, which was said to be 
building in New York, by Ericsson. 

It was indeed the "Monitor," and although too late to 
prevent a terrible loss, she was in the nick of time to 
prevent much more serious disaster. 

And now for a few words about this remarkable vessel, 
whose exploits were the cause of a revolution in the 
building of ships-of-war, throughout the world. 

And first, as to her name. Ericsson proposed to call 
her Monitor, because she would prove a w^arning to the 
leaders of the Southern rebellion, as well as to the 
authorities of other countries who should be inclined to 
break our blockade, or otherwise interfere in our affairs. 

Captain Ericsson was a native of Sweden, and in his 
youth had served in both the army and navy of that 
country. Thence he went to England, to pursue his 
•profession as an engineer, and came out to America, to 
superintend the construction of the United States 
screw steamer Princeton, in 1839. Here he remained, 
dying in 1895, far advanced in years. In 1854 he 
planned a shot-proof iron-plated vessel, the drawings for 
which he forwarded to Louis Napoleon, saying, among 
other things, that his invention would place an entire fleet 
of wooden vessels at its mercy, in calms and light winds. 
Louis Napoleon politely-declined to accept his proposition 
to build such a vessel for the French Navy. 

When it became evident that a long and arduous 



MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 176 

Struggle was before us, at the opening of the Civil War, 
certain gentlemen entered into a contract to build such a 
vessel for our Government, on Ericsson's plans, and under 
his superintendence. The ironclad was contracted for in 
October, 1861, to be ready in the shortest possible space 
of time. The contract price paid for her hull was seven 
and a half cents a pound, and Ericsson and his backers 
were to forfeit payment for the whole, unless she was 
found to work in a satisfactory manner. 

His plans were only partly drawn, and it is said that 
he frequently made his drawings, to overcome difficulties, 
the same day they were to be worked from. 

The hull was built by Rowland, at Green Point, Long 
Island; the turret at the Novelty Works, New York; the 
machinery and mechanism of the turret at Delamater's, 
in New York ; while the massive port-stoppers, which 
swung down by machinery, as the guns fired and the 
turret revolved, were forged in Buffalo. 

Wonderful to relate, this entirely novel structure was 
finished in one hundred days from the time the plates for 
her keel were laid. She was launched on the 30th of 
January, 1862, having large wooden tanks under her 
stern, to prevent her from running under water, as she 
went off the ways. 

She was delivered to the naval authorities, at the New 
York Navy-yard, on the 19th of February, following. 
After two trial trips it was found to be necessary to 
hurry this novel and almost untried piece of compli- 
cated machinery down to Hampton Roads, to meet the 
formidable ironclad whose doings we have just been 
relating 

The officers and crew were in circumstances entirely 
new to them. " Calmly and terribly heroic," says Dorr, 



176 MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 

"was the act of manning this coffin-like ship," in which 
the crew was, as it were, hermetically sealed. 

Lieutenant John L. Worden, of the Navy, having been 
ordered to the command, proceeded to select a crew 
from the receiving ships North Carolina and Sabine. 
He stated fairly to the men the difficulties and dangers 
which they might expect to encounter, and yet many 
more volunteered to go than were required. The officers 
were ordered in the usual way, except the First Lieuten- 
ant, S. D. Greene, who was a volunteer. Chief Engineer 
Stimers, of the navy, who had been employed as an 
inspector of some of the work, and who was interested 
in the performance of the vessel, went down in her as a 
passenger, and took part, as a volunteer, in her first 
action. 

The Monitor's orders to Hampton Roads were issued 
on the 20th of February, but necessary work detained 
her ; and on March 4th Admiral Paulding, the Com- 
mandant at New York, directed Worden to proceed the 
moment the weather would permit ; and informed him 
that a tug would be sent to tow him, and two small 
steamers would attend. 

On the afternoon of March 6th the Monitor left Sandy 
Hook, with a moderate westerly wind, and a smooth sea. 
The "Seth Low" was hired to tug her, and the Currituck 
and Sachem formed the escort. At midday of the 7th 
she was off the Capes of the Delaware, with a strong 
breeze and a rough sea. Water came freely in at the 
hawse-pipes, around the base of the turret, and in other 
places. At 4 r. m., the wind still increasing, the water 
broke over the smoke and blower pipes, which were six 
and four feet high, respectively. This wet the blower 
bands, which slipped and broke. A failure in the 
machinery to supply air must soon be fatal, in such a 



MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 177 

craft, to all on board. The blowers being stopped there 
was no draft for the furnaces, and the fire and engine 
rooms soon filled with gas. 

The engineer in charge, Isaac Newton, U. S. N., met 
the emergency promptly, but his department was soon 
prostrated by inhaling the gas, and they had to be taken 
up into the turret, to be revived. 

The water was coming in rapidly, and the hand-pumps 
could not discharge it fast enough. Matters looked very 
gloomy, and the tug was hailed, and directed to head for 
the land. This she did at once, but made slow progress 
against wind and sea; but by evening she had got the 
Monitor into much smoother water; repairs were made, 
the gas had escaped, and at 8 o'clock she was on her 
course again. At midnight fears of disaster were again 
aroused by very rough water, in passing over the Chinco- 
teague Shoals ; and, to add to their troubles, the wheel-ropes 
jammed, and the vessel yawed so that the towing hawser 
was in danger of parting. 

These difficulties were in turn overcome by the stout 
hearts and skillful hands on board; and at four in the 
afternoon of the 8th of March she passed Cape Henry. 
Heavy firing was now heard to the westward, which Worden 
at once conjectured to be the Merrimac fighting the 
vessels in the Roads. He at once prepared the Monitor 
for action, and keyed up the turret. A pilot boat which 
came out to meet them soon put them in possession of 
the news, and of the damage done to the ships at New 
port News, as well as the position of the Minnesota. 
Reporting to the senior officer in Hampton Roads, 
Worden's first care was to find a pilot for that place. 
None being found, acting Master Howard, who had a 
knowledge of the locality, volunteered to act as pilot. 
The Monitor then went up, and_ anchored near the 



178 MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 

Minnesota, at one o'clock on Sunday morning. Worden 
went to see Captain Van Brunt, and informed himself, as 
well as he could, of the state of affairs, and then returned 
to the Monitor, after assuring the Captain that he would 
develop all the qualities of that vessel, both for offence 
and defence. 

We now return to the moment when the Merrimac 
came down again, and the Monitor went out to meet her, 
Worden's object being to draw her away from the 
Minnesota. The contrast between the opposing ironclads 
was m.ost striking, the Monitor seeming a veritable pigmy 
by the side of the Merrimac. The two vessels met on 
parallel courses, with their bows looking in opposite 
directions. They then exchanged fire. Worden and the 
engineers had been very anxious about the effect of heavy 
shot striking the turret, and causing it to jam. The heavy 
shot of the Merrimac did strike the turret, and, to their 
great relief, it continued to revolve without difficulty. 
Thus one great source of anxiety was removed. More- 
over, it was plainly to be seen that the 1 1 -inch solid shot 
of the Monitor made a very considerable impression upon 
the Merrimac's plating. The Monitor, though slow, 
steered well, and was much more agile than her long and 
heavy opponent, and she now ran across the Merrimac's 
stern, close to her, in the hopes of damaging her propeller 
•or rudder, but in this she did not succeed. 

After passing up on her port side, she crossed the 
Merrimac's bow, to get between her and the Minnesota 
again. The Merrimac put on steam, and made for the 
Monitor, to ram her. Finding that she would strike her, 
Worden put his helm hard-a-port, and gave his vessel a 
sheer, so that the blow glanced off from the quarter. 
The Monitor was now obliged to haul off for a few 
minutes, to do some remir or other, and the Merrimac 



MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 179 

turned her attention to the Minnesota, hulling her, and 
exploding the boiler of a steam-tug lying alongside of 
her. The Minnesota's battery was brought to bear, and 
her 8-inch shot must have hit the Merrimac more than fifty 
times, but glanced from her sloping roof without inflicting 
damage. 

The gallant litde Monitor now came up again, and 
interposed between the two. Her shot soon caused the 
Merrimac to shift her position, and in doing so she 
grounded for a few minutes, but was soon afloat again. 
The fight had now lasted for a long time, and just before 
noon, when within ten yards of the Merrimac, one of her 
shells struck the pilot-house, just over the lookout hole 
or slit. Worden had just withdrawn his face, which had 
been pressed against it. If he had been touching it he 
would probably have been killed. As it was, he was 
stunned, and blinded by the explosion, and bears the indeli- 
ble marks of powder blast in his face to this day. 

The concussion partly lifted the top of the pilot-house, 
and the helm was put a starboard, and the Monitor 
sheered off Greene was sent for, from the turret, to take 
the command, but just at that time it became evident that 
the Merrimac had had enough of it ; and, after a few more 
shots on each side she withdrew, and slowly and sullenly 
went up to an anchorage above Craney Island. Greene 
did not follow her very far, and was considered to have 
acted with good judgment ; it not being necessary to enter 
into the reasons for his action here. He returned, and 
anchored near the Minnesota, where he remained until 
that vessel was extricated from her unpleasant predica- 
ment, on the following night. 

It is probable that the Monitor would, in firing at such 
close quarters, have completely broken up the Merrimac's 
armor plates, if a knowledge had existed of the endurance 



180 MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 

of the Dahlgren gun. The fear of bursting the ii-inch 
guns, in the small turret, caused the use of the service 
charge of fifteen pounds of powder. After that time thirty 
pounds were often used. Then we must remember that 
the crew had only been exercised at the guns a few times, 
and that the gun and turret gear were rusty, from having 
been kept wet during her late passage from New York. 

The Monitor was 124 feet long, and 34 feet wide in th« 
hull. The armor raft was 1 74 feet long, and 41 feet wide. 
Her stern overhung 34 feet, and her bow 15 feet. Her 
side armor was of five one-inch plates, backed by twenty- 
seven inches of oak. Her deck armor consisted of two 
half-inch plates, over seven inches of plank. The turret 
was twenty feet in inside diameter, covered with eight 
one-inch plates, and was nine feet high. The top of the 
turret was of railroad bars, with holes for ventilation. The 
pilot-house was built of bars eight inches square, and 
built up log-house fashion, with the corners notched. 
She was very primitive in all her arrangements, compared 
with the monitors Ericsson afterwards produced. 

She carried two 1 1 -inch guns, which threw spherical cast- 
iron shot, weighing 168 pounds. The charge of powder 
has been mentioned. 

In this engagement she was struck twenty-one times; 
eight times on the side armor; twice on the pilot-house; 
seven times on the turret, and four times on deck. 

The Merrimac carried ten heavy guns; sixty-eight- 
pounders, rifled. One of these was broken by a shot from 
the Cumberland, which shot entered her casemate, and 
killed seven men. Captain Buchanan was wounded on 
the first day, by a musket-ball, it is said; and the Merri- 
mac was commanded, in her fight with the Monitor, by 
Lieutenant Catesby Jones, formerly of the United States 
Navy, as were, indeed, all her other officers. On the 



MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 181 

second day the Monitor injured many of her plates, and 
crushed in some of her casemate timbers. 

From the day she retired before the Monitor to the 
I ith of May, when she was blown up by her own people, 
the formidable Merrimac never did anything more of 
note. There was, Indeed, a plan concocted to capture the 
Monitor, as she lay on guard, in the Roads, by engaging 
her with the Merrimac, while men from two small steamers 
boarded her, and wedged her turret. Then the crew 
were to be driven out, by throwing balls of stinking 
combustibles below, by her ventilators. But nothing 
came of it. 

The end of the Monitor must be told. After doing 
good service up the James River, during the eventful 
summer of 1862, she was sent down to Beaufort. South 
Carolina. On the night of the 30th of Decerrtber, when 
off Hatteras, she suddenly foundered. About half of her 
officers and crew went down in her; the rest making 
their escape to her escort. The cause of her sinking was 
never known ; but it was conjectured that the oak timbers 
which were fitted on the top rim of her iron hull had shrunk 
under the hot summer sun of the James River, and when 
she once more got into a rough sea, admitted the watei" 
In torrents. 

'Before we quit the subject of the Merrimac and 
Monitor, It may be of interest to mention that just about 
the time the Merrimac retired from the contest the head 
of Magruder's column appeared on the river bank. But 
the camp at Newport News was too strong and well 
entrenched to be attacked without aid from the water. 
Magruder was just a day too late, and had to march back 
again. His troops were the same which, a few weeks 
later, were opposed to McClellan, in the earthworks at 
Yorktown. 



FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 




BOUT the close of the gloomy and dis- 
astrous year 1861, the Government of the 
United States determined to regain con- 
trol of the JMIssIssippI, the greater part 
of which, from Memphis to the Gulf, was 
held by the Confederates, who were 
thus enabled to transport immense sup- 
plies from the southwest to the seat of 
war. Moreover, the Rebels, as they were then called, 
had, at New Orleans, a constantly increasing force of 
rams and armored vessels, under able officers of the old 
Navy, with which to defend the approaches from the 
Gulf, as well as from up the river. 

After lonof consideration, Farraorut was chosen as the 
naval officer to command in the Gulf. The story of his 
southern birth, and of his steadfast loyalty to his flag, is 
too well known to be here repeated. 

His formal orders put him in command of the "Western 
Gulf Blockading Squadron," and these were issued in 
January, 1862. But confidential instructions were also 
given him, by which he was especially charged with the 
" reduction of the defences guarding the approaches to 
New Orleans, and the taking possession of that city." 

He was to be assisted by a mortar-fleet of schooners, 
lander Commander D. D. Porter. 

Farragut had long before expressed a belief that hm 



FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 183 

could take New Orleans, and he had litde confidence in 
a mortar-fleet, and would rather have dispensed with it ; 
but since Porter had already been ordered to prepare it, 
when he was detailed for the command, he acquiesced in 
the arrangement 

He turned out to be right, as he generally was in 
such matters. 

On February 2d, 1862, Farragut sailed for the Gulf, in 
the sloop-of-war Hartford, which was so long to bear his 
flag, successfully, through manifold dangers. 

The Hartford was a wooden screw-steamer, full ship- 
rigged, and of nineteen hundred tons burthen. She was 
of comparatively light draught, and, therefore, well suited 
to the service she was called upon to perform. 

She then carried a battery of twenty-two nine-inch, 
smooth-bore guns, two 20-pounder Parrotts, and her fore 
and main-tops had howitzers, with a pr'otecdon of boiler 
iron, a suggestion of Farragut's. This battery was 
afterwards increased by a rifled gun upon the fore- 
castle. Like Napoleon, Farragut believed in plenty of 
guns. 

The Hartford arrived at her rendezvous, Ship Island, 
one hundred miles north-northeast of the mouths of the 
Mississippi, on February 20th. 

A military force, to co-operate with Farragut's fleet, 
was sent out, under General B. F. Butler, and arrived at 
Ship Island on March 25th. Butler's plan was to follow 
Farragut, and secure, by occupation, whatever the guns 
of the fleet should subdue. 

Let us now see a little about the scene of action. 

Farragut's son. In the "Life of Farragut," from which 
we principally quote in this article, says (quoting another 
person), that the Delta of the Mississippi has been aptly 
described as "a long, watery arm, gaundeted In swamps 



184 FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 

and mud, spread out into a grasping hand," o{ which the 
fingers are the five passes, oi mouths. 

At that time the mud brought down by the great river 
formed bars at each pass, which bars are always shifting, 
and require good pilots to keep account of their condition. 
In peace times the pilots are always at work, sounding 
and buoying, and the chances are that all the efforts of 
•the "Delta Doctors" will only end in transferring the 
bars further out into the Gulf 

New Orleans, on the left bank of the river, is about 
one hundred miles from its mouth, and was by far the 
wealthiest and most important city of the Confederacy. 
Loyall Farragut states that, in i860, it had about 170,000 
inhabitants ; while Charleston had but about 40,000 ; 
Richmond even a smaller population; and Mobile but 
29,000 people. 

Just before the war New Orleans had the largest export 
trade of any city in the world ; and this fact, together with 
the importance of its position from a military point of 
view, made it the most important object for any military 
expedition. 

There is a great bend in the Mississippi, thirty miles 
above the head of the passes, the lowest favorable locality 
for defence, where two forts had been erected by the 
United States Government, St. Philip on the left, or north 
bank, and a little further down. Fort Jackson, on the right 
bank. A single fort at this point had held a British 
fleet in check for nine days, in spite of a vigorous shelling 
by their guns and mortars. Fort St. Philip was originally 
built by the Spaniards, but had been completely recon- 
structed. It was a quadrangular earthwork, with a brick 
scarp, and powerful batteries exteriorly, above and below. 
Fort Jackson was more important, and rose twenty-five 



FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. ^35 

feet above the river and swamp, while St. PhiHp was only 
nineteen feet above them. 

The Confederates had taken possession of these works, 
and had put them in complete order; Jackson mour.ted 
seventy-five powerful guns, and St. Philip forty. Fourteen 
of Fort Jackson's guns were in bomb-proof casemates. 
The works were garrisoned by fifteen hundred men, 
commanded by Brigadier General Duncan; St. Philip 
being commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Hig- 
gins, formerly an officer of the United States Navy. 

Above the forts lay a fleet of fifteen vessels, under 
Commodore J. K. Mitchell, formerly of the United States 
Navy, which included the ironclad ram Manassas, and a 
huge floating battery, covered with railroad iron, called 
the " Louisiana." 

Just below Fort Jackson the river was obstructed by a 
heavy chain, brought from the Pensacola Navy-yard. 
This chain was supported by cypress logs, at short 
intervals ; the ends made fast to great trees on shore, 
and the whole kept from sagging down with the current 
by heavy anchors. 

This contrivance was swept away by a spring freshet, 
and was replaced by smaller chains, passed over eight 
dismasted hulks, anchored abrei*st, and partially by logs, 
as before. There was a bar<:ery at the end opposite 
Fort Jackson. 

A numberof sharpshooteis patrolled the banks below. 
to give notice of any movements of the United States 
forces. 

Farragut's task waj, to break through the obstructions, 
pass the forts, destroy or capture the Rebel fleet, and then 
to place New Orleans under the guns of his own ships, 
and demand its surrender. 

He had six sluops-of-war, sixteen gun-boats — all steam- 



186 FAURACxUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 

vessels — and twenty-one schooners, each with a 1 3-inch 
mortar, and five sailing vessels, which were to act as 
magazines and store-ships. The fleet carried over two 
hundred guns, and was the largest that had ever been 
seen under our flag, up to that time; but was afterwards 
much exceeded by that which bombarded Fort Fisher. 

There was little opportunity for General Buder and 
his fifteen thousand troops to co-operate in the passage 
of the forts ; so they only held themselves ready to hold 
what Farragut might capture. 

Farragut hoped to have taken the Colorado, a most 
powerful frigate, up the river, but she drew entirely too 
much water to be got over the bar. Great difficulty was 
experienced in getting the Brooklyn, Mississippi, and 
Pensacola into the river. The Mississippi, although 
lightened in every possible way, had to be dragged 
through at least a foot of mud. 

When the arduous labor was finished, and the time for 
action arrived, Butler's troops were embarked on the 
transports, and Porter's mortar-schooners were placed 
on each bank, below the forts ; being protected from the 
view of those in the batteries by the forest trees, and by 
having great branches lashed at their mast-heads, which 
blended with the foliage on the banks. 

The mortars threw shells weighing two hundred and 
eighty-five pounds, and their fire was guided by a careful 
triangulation, made by Mr. Gerdes, of the Coast Survey. 
Fort Jackson received most of the shells, of which about 
a thousand a day were thrown, for six days. The Con- 
federates had a good many killed and wounded by this 
means, and much damage was done, but the forts were 
not silenced; and Lieutenant Weitzel reported, after their 
surrender, that they were as strong as before the firsf 
shell was fired. 



FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEAN&. * 189 

One schooner was sunk, and one steamer disabled by 
the return fire from the fort. 

In the course of the delay waiting for the result of the 
bombardment, many of Farragut's ships were damaged 
by collisions, caused by strong winds and currents, and 
by efforts to avoid the fire-rafts which the enemy sent 
down. Only one of the latter put the ships in any 
danger, and that was at last turned off. These fire-rafts 
were flatboats piled with dry >vood, sprinkled with tar 
and turpentine. They were towed out of the way by the 
ships' boats. 

Farragut had issued orders to his commanding ofificers 
in regard to preparing their ships for this particular 
service. After providing for the top hamper, and dis- 
pensing with many masts and spars, he says, " Make 
arrangements, if possible, to mount one or two guns on 
the poop and top-gallant-forecastle ; in other words, be 
prepared to use as many guns as possible, ahead and 
astern, to protect yourself against the enemy's gun-boats 
and batteries, bearing in mind that you will always have 
to ride head to the current, and cyn only avail yourself 
of the sheer of the helm to point a broadside gun more 
than three points forward of the beam, 

" Have a kedge in the mizzen-chains (or any convenient 
place) on the quarter, with a hawser bent and leading 
through in the stern chock, ready for any emergency ; 
also grapnels in the boats, ready to hook on to and to 
tow off fire-ships. Trim your vessel a few inches by the 
head, so that if she touches the bottom she will not swing 
head down the river. Put your boat howitzers in the fore 
and main tops, on the boat carriages, and secure them 
for firing abeam, etc. Should any accident occur to the 
machinery of the ship, making it necessary to drop down 
the river, you will back and fill down under sail, or you can 

12 



190 FARRAC.UT AT NEW ORLEANS. 

drop your anchor and drift down, but in no case attempt 
to turn the ships head down stream. You will have 
a spare hawser ready, and when ordered to take in tow 
your next astern, do so, keeping the hawser slack so long 
as the ship can maintain her own j^osition, having a care 
not to foul the propeller. 

" No vessel must withdraw from battle, under any 
circumstances, without the consent of the flaof-officer. 
You will see that force and other pumps and engine hose 
are in good order, and men stationed by them, and your 
men will be drilled to the extinofuishinof of fires. 

" Have light Jacob-ladders made to throw over the side, 
for the use of the carpenters in stopping shot-holes, who 
are to be supplied with pieces of inch board lined with 
felt, and ordinary nails, and see that the ports are marked, 
in accordance with the 'ordnance instructions,' on the 
berth deck, to show the locality of the shot-holes. 

** Have many tubs of water about the decks, both for 
the purpose of extinguishing fire and for drinking. Have 
a heavy kedge in the port main-chains, and a whip on the 
main-yard, ready to run it up and let fall on the deck of 
any vessel you may run alongside of, in order to secure 
her for boarding. 

"You will be careful to have lanyards on the lever of 
the screw, so as to secure the gun at the proper elevation, 
and prevent it from running down at each fire. I wish 
you to understand that the day is at hand when you will 
be called upon to meet the enemy in the worst form for 
our profession. You must be prepared to execute all 
those duties to which you have been so long trained in 
the Navy without having the opportunity of practicing. 
I expect every vessel's crew to be well exercised at their 
guns, because it is required by the regulations of tlie 
service, and it is usually the first object of our attention ; 



FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 191 

but they must be equally well trained for stopping shot- 
holes and extinguishing fire. Hot and cold shot will, no 
doubt, be freely dealt to us, and there must be stout 
hearts and quick hands to extinguish the one and stop 
the holes of the other. 

"I shall expect the most prompt attention to signals 
and verbal orders, either from myself or the Captain of 
the fleet, who, it will be understood, in all cases, acts by 
my authority." 

After the bombardment had continued three days Far- 
ragut, who had made up his mind to attempt the passage 
of the forts in any event, called a council of his Cap- 
tains, to obtain their opinion as to the best manner of 
doing so. 

Immediately after the council Farragut issued the fol- 
lowing general order : — 

"United States Flag-ship Hartford, 
Mississippi River, April 20th, 1862. 
"The Flag-Officer, having heard all the opinions ex- 
pressed by the different commanders, is of the opinion 
that whatever is to be done will have to be done quickly, 
or we shall be again reduced to a blockading squadron, 
without the means of carrying on the bombardment, as 
we have nearly expended all the shells and fuses and 
material for making cartridges. He has always enter- 
tained the same opinions which are expressed by Com- 
mander Porter ; that is, there are three modes of attack ; 
and the question is, which is the one to be adopted ? 
his own opinion is, that a combination of two should be 
made ; viz., the forts should be run, and when a force is 
once above the forts, to protect the troops, they should be 
landed at quarantine, from the Gulf side, by bringing them 
through the bayou, and then our forces should move 



192 FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 

Up the river, mutually aiding each other as it can be done 
to advantage. 

" When, in the opinion of the Flag-Officer, the propitious 
time has arrived, the signal will be made to weigh and 
advance to the conflict. If, in his opinion, at the time of 
arriving at the respecdve positions of the different divi- 
sions of the fleet, we have the advantage, he will make 
the signal for close action, number 8, and abide the result, 
conquer, or be conquered, drop anchor or keep under 
way, as in his opinion is best. 

" Unless the signal above mentioned is made, it will be 
understood that the first order of sailing will be formed 
after leaving Fort St. Philip, and we will proceed up the 
river In accordance with the original opinion expressed. 

" The programme of the order of sailing accompanies 
this general order, and the commanders will hold them- 
selves in readiness for the service as Indicated. 

" D. G. Farragut, 

'^ Flag- Officer Western Gulf Blockading Squadrony 

Having decided to run by the forts, he confided to 
Fleet-Captain Bell the dangerous mission of proceeding, 
with the gunboats Pinola and Itasca, to make a passage 
for his fleet through the chain obstructions. 

Lieutenant Caldwell, of the Itasca, and his party, with 
great coolness and bravery, boarded one of the hulks, 
and succeeded in detaching the -chains. They were accom- 
panied by the inventor of a new submarine petard, which 
he placed under one of the hulks. But a movement of the 
Pinola in the swift current snapped the wires, and it could 
not be exploded. In spite of a very heavy fire directed 
upon them, the party at last succeeded In making a suffi- 
cient opening for the fleet to pass through. 

Farragut wrote, the next day: " * * * Captain 



FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 193 

Bell went last night to cut the chain across the river. I 
never felt such anxiety in my life, as I did undl his return. 
One of his vessels got on shore, and I was fearful she 
would be captured. They kept up a tremendous fire on 
him ; but Porter diverted their fire with a heavy cannonade. 
* * * :j: ggii would have burned the hulks, but the 
illumination would have given the enemy a chance to 
destroy his gunboat, which got aground. However, the 
chain was divided, and it gives us space enough to go 
through. I was as glad to see Bell, on his return, as if he 
had been my boy. I was up all night, and could not sleep 
until he got back to the ship." 

Farragut had determined to run by the forts at the end 
of five days' bombardment; but he was detained for 
twenty-four hours by the ;riecessity of repairing damages 
to two of his vessels. At first he had determined to lead, 
in the Hartford, but was dissuaded from that, and 
appointed Captain Bailey, whose ship, the Colorado, drew 
too much water to get up, to lead the column, in the gun- 
boat Cayuga, Lieutenant Commanding N. B. Harrison. 

Long before this — on the 6th of April — Farragut had 
himself reconnoitred the forts, by daylight, going up in the 
gun-boat Kennebec in whose cross-trees he sat, glass 
in hand, until the gunners in the fort began to get his 
range. 

On the night of the passage, April 23-24, the moon 
would rise about half-past three in the morning, and the 
fleet was ordered to be ready to start about two. 

In this, as in most other important operations during 
the war, the enemy were mysteriously apprised of what 
was to be done. 

At sunset there was a light southerly breeze, and a 
haze upon the water. Caldwell was sent up, in the Itasca, 
to sec :f the passage made in the obstructions was still 



X94 FARRAGUT AT NEW OKLEANS. 

open. At eleven at night he signalled that it was, and 
just at that time the enemy opened fire upon him, sent 
down burning rafts, and lighted immense piles of wood 
which they had prepared on shore, near the ends of the 
chain. 

Soon after midnight the hammocks of the fleet were 
quietly stowed, and the ships cleared for action. 

At five minutes before two, two ordinary red lights 
were shown at the peak of the flag-ship, the signal to get 
under way, but it was half-past three before all was ready. 
This was the time for the moon to rise, but that made little 
difference, with the light of the blazing rafts and bonfires. 

The mortar-boats and the sailing sloop Portsmouth 
moved further up stream, to engage the water battery, as 
the ships were going by. This they promptly did, and 
then Captain Bailey led off, with his division of eight 
vessels, whose objective point was Fort St. Philip. All ol 
these passed safely through the opening in the cable. 

The forts opened on them promptly, but in five min- 
utes they had reached St. Philip, and were pouring grape 
and canister into that work. 

In ten minutes more the Cayuga had passed beyond 
range of the fort, to find herself surrounded by eleven 
Rebel gun-boats. Three of these attempted to board her 
at once. An 1 1 -inch shot was sent through one of them, 
at a range of about thirty yards, and she was at once ruo 
ashore and burned up. 

The Parrott gun on the Cayuga's forecastle drove off 
another ; and she was preparing to close with the third, 
when the Oneida and Varuna, which had run in close to 
St. Philip, thus avoiding the elevated guns of that fort, 
while they swept Its bastions with grape and shrapnel, 
came to the assistance of the Cayuga. S. P. Lee, in the 
Oaeida, ran full speed Into one of tlie enemy's vessels^ 



fARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 195 

cut her nearly In two, and left her floating down the 
current, a helpless wreck. 

She fired rig^ht and left into two others, and then went 
to the assistance of the Varuna, which had got ashore on 
the left bank, hard pressed by two Rebel gun-boats, one 
of which was said to be the Manassas. The Varuna was 
rammed by both of them, and fifteen minutes after, she 
sunk. In that time she had put three 8 -inch shells into 
the Governor Moore, besides so crippling her with solid 
shot that she surrendered to the Oneida. She also forced 
another to take to the bank by her 8-inch shell. The 
Varuna was commanded by Commander (now Admiral) 
C. S. Boggs. It Is said that, before sinking, he also 
exploded the boiler of another small steamer. 

The Pensacola steamed slowly and steadily by, firing 
her powerful battery with great deliberation, and doing 
especial execution with her ii-inch pivot gun and her 
rifled eighty-pounder. In return she received a heavy 
fire, and lost thirty-seven in killed and wounded ; the 
greatest number of any of the fleet. Her boats were 
lowered, and sent to assist the sinking Varuna. 

The Mississippi came up next in line to the Pensacola, 
but escaped with light loss of life. She it was that met 
the ram Manassas, and the latter gave her a severe cut, 
below the water, on the port-quarter, and disabled her 
machinery. But the Mississippi riddled her with shot, 
boarded her, and set her on fire, and she drifted down 
below the forts and blew up. 

The Katahdin ran close to the forts, passed them 
rapidly, got near the head of the line, and was engaged 
principally with the ironclad Louisiana. The Kineo ran 
by, close under St. Philip, and then assisted the Mississippi 
with the ram Manassas : but she was afterwards attacked 
by three of the enemy's gun-boats at once, and, having 



196 FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 

had her pivot-gun-carriage injured, withdrew, and con- 
tinued up stream. 

The Wissahickon, the last of the eight vessels of the 
first division, was less fortunate. She got ashore before 
she reached the forts, got off and passed them, and ran on 
shore again above. 

It must be remembered that these operations were 
carried on in the darkness and thick smoke, lighted only 
by the lurid flashes of more than two hundred guns. 

The second division of the fleet was led by Farragut 
himself, in the Hartford, followed by the Brooklyn and 
Richmond. These were three formidable vessels. The 
Hartford opened fire on Fort Jackson just before four in 
the morning, and received a heavy fire from both forts. 
Soon after, in attempting to avoid a fire-raft, she grounded 
on a shoal spot, near St. Philip. At the same time the 
ram Manassas pushed a fire-raft under her port-quarter, 
and she at once took fire. A portion of her crew went to 
fire-quarters, and soon subdued the flames, the working 
of her guns being steadily continued. Soon she backed 
off, into deep water ; but this movement set her head down 
stream, and it was with difficulty that she was turned 
round against the current. When, at last, this was accom- 
plished, she proceeded up the river, firing into several of 
the enemy's vessels as she passed. One of these was a 
steamer, packed with men, apparendy a boarding party. 
She was making straight for the Hartford, when Captain 
Broome's gun, manned by marines, planted a shell in her, 
which exploded, and she disappeared. 

During the critical period when she was slowly turning 
up river, the Admiral stood aft, giving orders, and occa- 
sionally consulting a little compass attached to his watch- 
chain. During most of the engagement, however, he was 
forward, watching the progress of the fight. 



FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 197 

The Brooklyn was also detained by getting entangled 
with a raft, and running over one of the hulks which held 
up the chain, during which time she was raked by Fort 
Jackson, and suffered somewhat from the fire of St. Philip. 

Just as she was clear, and headed up stream, she was 
butted by the Manassas, which had not headway enouo-b 
to damage her much, and slid off again into the dark- 
ness. Then the Brooklyn was attacked by a large steamer, 
but she gave her her port broadside, at fifty yards, and set 
her on fire. Feeling her way along, in a dense cloud of 
smoke from a fire-raft, she came close abreast of St. Philip, 
into which she poured such tremendous broadsides that 
by the flashes the gunners were seen running to shelter, 
and for the time the fort was silenced. The Brooklyn their 
passed on, and engaged several of the enemy's gun-boats. 
One of these, the Warrior, came under her port broad- 
side, when eleven five-second shells were planted iir her, 
which set her on fire, and she vv^as run on shore. The 
Brooklyn was under fire an hour and a half, but did not 
lose quite so many as the Pensacola. 

The Richmond, a slow ship, was the third and last of 
the centre division. She came on steadily, and without 
accident, working her battery with the utmost regularity. 
Her loss was not heavy, which her commander attributed 
mainly to a complete provision of splinter nettings. 

The gun-boat Sciota, carrying Fleet-Captain Bell, led 
the third division. She steamed by the forts, firing as 
she passed, and above them burned two steamboats. 
Then she sent a boat to receive the surrender of an 
armed steamboat, but the latter was found to be fast 
ashore. 

The Iroquois, Commander John DeCamp, had not such 
good fortune. She passed so close to Fort Jackson as to 
escape much injury, but received a terrible raking from 



198 FARRACxUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 

St. Philip, and was also raked by the armed steamer 
McCrea, with grape. She drove off the McCrea with an 
eleven-inch shell and a stand of canister, and then went 
through a group of the enemy's gun-boats, giving them 
broadsides as she passed. The Iroquois' losses were heavy. 

The gun-boat Pinola passed up in line, firing her eleven- 
inch pivot and Parrott rifles at the flashes of the guns of 
the forts, which were all that Commander Crosby could 
see; then she emerged from the smoke cloud, steered 
towards St. Philip, and by the light of the blazing rafts, 
received the discharges of its forty guns. 

The Pinola was the last vessel which passed the forts, 
and she got up in time to fire a few shell at the enemy's 
flotilla. 

Of the other three gun-boats of the division, the Ken- 
nebec got out of her course, became entangled in the 
rafts, and did not get free until it was broad daylight, and 
too late to attempt a passage. The Itasca, upon arriving 
in front of Fort Jackson, received a shot in her boiler, 
Incapacitating her, and she was obliged to drift down 
stream. 

The Winona got astray among the hulks, and when she 
came within range of Fort Jackson it was broad daylight, 
and the fleet had gone on. Fort Jackson opened upon 
her, and she soon lost all the crew of her rifled gun but 
one man. Still she kept on, to endeavor to get through, 
but St. Philip opening upon her, from her lower battery, 
at less than point blank range, the litde Winona was 
forced to turn and descend the stream. 

Thus did Farragut accomplish a feat in naval warfare 
which had no precedent, and which is still without a parallel, 
except the one furnished by himself, at Mobile, two years 
later. 

Starting with seventeen wooden vessels, he had passed, 



FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 199 

with all but three of them, against the swift current of a 
river, there but half a mile wide, between two powerful 
earthworks, which had long been prepared for him, his 
course impeded by blazing rafts, and Immediately there- 
after had met the enemy's fleet of fifteen vessels, two of 
them ironclad, and either captured or destroyed every 
one of them. 

All this was done with the loss of but one vessel from 
his own squadron. Probably few naval men would have 
believed that this work could have been done so effectually, 
even with Ironclads. 

Captain Wilkinson, who was in this battle as executive 
officer of the Confederate iron-clad Louisiana, in his 
"Narrative of a Blockade Runner," says: "Most of us 
belonging to that little naval fleet knew that Admiral 
Farragut would dare to attempt what any man would ; 
and, for my part, I had not forgotten that while I was 
under his command, during the Mexican war, he had pro- 
posed to Commodore Perry, then commanding the Gulf 
Squadron, and urged upon him, the enterprise of captur- 
ing the strong fort of San Juan de Ulloa, at Vera Cruz, by 
bom^ding. Ladders were to be constructed, and triced 
up along the attacking ships' masts, and the ships to be 
towed alongside the walls by the steamers of the squad- 
ron. Here was a much grander prize to be fought 
for, and every day of delay was strengthening his adver- 
saries." 

The magnitude of Farragut' s novel enterprise was 
scarcely realized at the North when the first news was 
received. It was simply announced that he "had run by 
the forts." The Confederates knew too well what resist- 
ance and difficulties he had overcome, and what a loss 
they sustained in New Orleans. 

An officer who was in the engagement expressed an 



200 FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 

Opinion that if the passage had been attempted by day- 
light the fleet would have sustained a fearful loss. 

After the fleet had passed the forts Captain Bailey, in 
the Cayuga, preceded the flag-ship up the river, and at 
the quarantine station captured the Chalmette regiment, 
encamped upon the river bank. 

On the morning of the 25th, the Cayuga, still leading, 
encountered the Chalmette batteries, three miles below 
New Orleans. The Hartford and Brooklyn, with several 
others, soon joined her, and silenced these batteries. 
New Orleans was now fairly under Farragut's guns, and 
this had been effected at the cost of thirty-seven killed 
and one hundred and forty-seven wounded. 

Farragut appointed eleven o'clock of the morning of 
the 26th as the hour "for all the officers and crews of the 
fleet to return thanks to Almighty God for His great 
goodness and mercy, in permitting us to pass through 
the events of the last two days with so little loss of life 
and blood." 

The ships passed up to the city, and anchored imme- 
diately in front of it, and Captain Bailey was sent on 
shore to demand the surrender of it, from the authorities, 
to which the Mayor replied that the city was under martial 
law, and that he had no authority. General Lovell, who 
was present, said he would deliver up nothing, but, in 
order to free the city from embarrassment, he would 
restore the city authorities, and retire with his troops, 
which he did. 

Farragut then seized all the steamboats which had not 
been destroyed and sent them down to the quaran- 
tine station, for Butler's troops. Among them was the 
Tennessee, which the blockaders had been so long watch- 
ing for, but which never got out. 

The levee at New Orleans was at this time a scene of 



FARRAGUr AT NEW ORLEANS. 201 

perfect desolation, as ships, steamers, and huge piles of 
cotton and wool had been set on fire by the Confederates, 
and an immense amount of property was destroyed. A 
very powerful ironclad, called the Mississippi, was set on 
fire, and drifted down past the city, in flames. Another 
was sunk direcdy in front of the Custom House, and 
others which had been begun at Algiers were destroyed. 

Several miles up the river, about Carrollton, were 
extensive fortifications — all taken possession of by Com- 
mander Lee — and an immense work, supporting chains, to 
prevent Foote's gun-boats from descending the river. 

Farragut had sent a party on shore to hoist the flag on 
the Custom House and Mint, belonging to the General 
Government. The party acted with great firmness and 
discretion, in spite of insults from a large and excited 
crowd. At noon on the 26th, during the performance of 
divine service referred to before, the officers and crews 
of the vessels were startled by the discharge of a howitzer 
in the main-top of the Pensacola. The lookout aloft had 
seen four men mount to the roof of the Mint and tear 
down the United States flag, and he had instantly fired 
the gun, which was trained upon the flag-staff, and loaded 
with grape. 

The leader of these men, a desperado and gambler, 
who thus imperilled the lives and property of the whole 
of the citizens, was, by order of General Buder, tried for 
the offence afterwards, was found guilty, and hanged by 
a beam and rope thrust out of the highest window of the 
Mint. 

When Admiral Farragut arrived at the quarantine 
station, after passing the forts, he had sent Captain Boggs 
(whose vessel, the Varuna, was lost) in a boat, through the 
bayous, to inform General Buder and Commander Porter 
of his success. The Captain was twenty-six hours In 



202 FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 

getting through. But General Butler, in the steamer 
Saxon, had followed the fleet up near the forts, and had 
witnessed the passage of the ships. He then hurried 
back to his troops, and they rendezvoused at Sable 
Island, twelve miles in the rear of Fort St. Philip, 
whence they were carried up in transports and landed at 
a point five miles above that work. At the same time 
Commander Porter had sent six of his mortar-boats to 
the bay behind Fort Jackson, where they arrived on the 
morning of April 27th, thus making a complete invest- 
ment. That night two hundred and fifty of the garrison 
of Fort Jackson came out and surrendered themselves to 
the Union pickets. 

While Farragut was passing the forts. Porter, with his 
mortar-boats, and their attendant steamers, continued the 
bombardment. On the 24th he demanded a surrender, 
but was refused, and for the three days following there 
was little or no firing. During these days the garrisons 
were occupied in re-mounting some of their dismounted 
guns, and transferred others to the floating battery 
Louisiana. 

On the 28th, General Duncan, the commander of the 
forts, learning that Farragut had possession of New 
Orleans, accepted the terms offered by Porter. While 
the articles of capitulation were being drawn up and 
signed, on board the Harriet Lane, and flags of truce 
were flying, the Confederate naval officers, after destroy- 
ing three of their four remaining vessels, set fire to the 
Louisiana, and cast her adrift. 

Fortunately her magazine exploded before she reached 
Porter's flotilla, or some of his vessels must have shared 
her fate ; and, not improbably, all of them. 

After the surrender had been consummated, he went up 
the river, and captured the naval officers who were sup- 



*"ARRAGUr At NEW ORLEANS. 203 

posed to have been guilty of this perfidious and most 
dishonorable, and murderous act, and put them in close 
confinement, to be sent North, and dealt with as the 
Government might see fit. John K. Mitchell, the 
Commodore of the Confederate flotilla, sent a letter to 
Farragut, justifying himself for destroying his vessels, and 
excusing his attempt to blow up Porter's vessels, in this 
wise : — 

"Lieutenant Whittle was sent in a boat with a flag of 
truce to inform Commander Porter that In firing the 
Louisiana, her magazine had not been effectually drowned, 
and that, though efforts were made to drown the charges 
in the guns, they may not have succeeded. This informa- 
tion was given in consideration of the negotiations then 
pending under flag of truce between him and Fort Jack- 
son ; but while the message was on Its way the explosion 
took place, a fact that does not affect the honorable purposes 
intended by it." 

This letter seems almost too childish and disingenuous 
to receive serious notice. It was almost the only instance 
during the war when naval officers did not act in good 
faith. 

The Confederate naval officers claimed, in justification 
of their action, that they were no party to the flag of 
truce, nor were they included in the terms of surrender 
of the forts, General Duncan treating only for the garri- 
sons under his command, and expressly disclaiming all 
connection with the navy. The whole was a pitiful 
commentary upon the jealousies and want of united 
conduct, which rendered Farragut's task a little more 
easy. Mitchell had always been considered an " Ill- 
conditioned" man, in the old navy, and the Government was 
disposed to treat him, and some of his ofBcers, pretty 
rigorously; but matters were arranged, afterwards, In a 



204 FARRAGUT AT NEW ORLEANS. 

correspondence which took place, upon their being sent 
North, between the Secretary of the Navy and Mitchell, 
that resulted in their treatment as ordinary prisoners. 

In writing to his family, after his capture of New 
Orleans, Farragut said, "It is a strange thought, that I 
am here among my relatives, and yet not one has dared 
to say, 'I am happy to see you.' There is a reign of 
terror In this doomed city ; but, although I am abused as 
one who wished to kill all the women and children, I still 
see a ieeling of respect for me." 



ATLANTA AND WEEHAWKEN. JUNE 17TH, 1863 




N the latter part of the year 1861 an English 
steamer, named the Fingal, ran past the 
blockading vessels, and got safely into 
Savannah. 

That part was very well done, but the 
getting to sea again was another matter, for 
she was so closely watched that It was found 
Impossible to do so. All sorts of stratagems 
were resorted to, and several starts made upon the 
darkest nights, but there was always found a Federal 
gun-boat, or perhaps more than one, ready to receive her, 
all the more that she was a valuable vessel, and would 
turn in plenty of prize-money to her captors. 

At last, in despair of any more use of her as a blockade- 
runner, the Rebel authorities determined to convert her 
into an Ironclad ship-of-war. She was cut down, so as to 
leave her deck not more than two feet above the water ; and 
upon this deck was built a very heavy casemate, inclining 
at an angle of about thirty degrees, and mounting four 
heavy rifled guns. The battery-deck was built of great 
beams of timber, a foot and a half thick. Her iron armor 
was four Inches thick, then considered quite formidable, 
and was secured to a backing of oak and pine, eighteen 
Inches thick. Her sides about and below the water line 
were protected by heavy logs or timbers built upon her, 
so that from being a slim and graceful blockade-runner, 



206 ATLANTA AND WEEHAWKEN. 

she attained a breadth of forty-one feet, with a length of 
two hundred and four. The ports in her casemate 
were closed by iron shutters, of the same thickness as 
her armor. Her bow was formed into a ram, and also 
carried, at the end of a spar, a percussion torpedo. 

In fact, she was a very formidable craft, of the general 
style of those built by the Confederates during the war. 
The Merrimac was nearly all casemate, but the later built 
ones had as small a casemate as was consistent with the 
working of the guns they were intended to carry. 

Thicker armor than hers had not yet come into use, the 
English Ironclad ships just then built, in consequence of 
the success of the Monitor and Merrimac, not being any 
more protected. 

The first contest between a monitor and fifteen-inch 
guns, and an ironclad with stationary casemate or turret 
and rifled guns, was now to take place. 

The Atlanta was commanded by an officer of energy 
and ability, named Webb, formerly a Lieutenant in the 
United States Navy. 

The Confederate authorities were certain that this latest 
production of their naval architects was to overcome the 
redoubtable monitors, and they fully believed that, while 
the Atlanta's armor would resist their heavy round shot, 
her heavy rifled guns, at close quarters, would tear the 
monitor turret to pieces, while the ram and torpedo would 
finish the work begun by the guns. 

The vessel, being ready, came down from Savannah, 
passed through the Wilmington, a mouth of the Savannah 
River, and so passed down into Wassaw Sound, improp- 
erly named, in many books and maps, Warsaw. 

Admiral Du Pont had taken measures to keep himself 
informed as regarded this vessel's state of preparation. 
and the monitors Weehawken and Nahant had been sent 



ATLANTA AND WEEHAWKEN. 207 

to meet her and some other armored vessels preparing 
at Savannah. 

Both the Nahant and Weehawken were at anchor when 
the strange vessel was seen. It was at daylight, and she 
was then about three miles from the Nahant, and coming 
down very rapidly. The Weehawken was commanded 
by that capable and sterling officer, John Rogers, and he 
ait once slipped his cable, and made rapidly off", seaward, 
as if in headlong flight, but, in the meantime, making 
preparations for action. 

At about half-past four, on this bright summer morning, 
the Weehawken rounded to, and breasted the tide, ap- 
proaching her enemy. 

The Nahant had no pilot, and could only follow in the 
Weehawken' s wake, through the channels of the Sound. 

The Atlanta fired the first shot, at about a quarter to 
five, being then distant about a mile and a half This 
passed across the stern of the Weehawken, and struck the 
water near the Nahant. The Atlanta seemed to be lying 
across the channel, awaiting attack, and keeping up her fire. 

The Weehawken steadily came up the channel, and at 
a little after 5 a. m., having approached within about three 
hundred yards, opened her fire. She fired five shots, 
which took her fifteen minutes, and at the end of that time 
the Adanta hauled down the Confederate colors, and 
hoisted a white flag. Such a rapid threshing is seldom 
recorded in naval history, and is the more remarkable 
when we remember that the commander of the Atlanta was 
a cool and experienced officer, trained in the United States 
Navy, and an excellent seaman. 

Two passenger steamers, loaded down with ladies and 
non-combatants, had followed the Atlanta down from 
Savannah, to witness the capture of the Yankee monitors. 
These now made the best of their way back to that city. 

39 



208 ATLANTA AND WEEHAWKEN. 

The Atlanta had a crew of twenty-one officers and one 
hundred and twenty-four men. Landsmen often wonder 
why ships have so many officers in proportion to men, 
but it is necessary. 

The officers of the Confederate vessel stated her speed 
to be ten knots, and they confidently expected to cap- 
ture both the monitors, after which, as it appeared from 
the instruments captured on board of her, she expected to 
proceed to sea, and try conclusions with the Charleston 
fleet. Her engines were first-rate, and her hull of a good 
model, and there is no reason why she should not have 
gone up to Charleston and broken the blockade there, 
except the one fact that she turned out not to be equal 
to the monitors. 

The action was so brief that the Nahant did not share 
in it, and of the five shots fired by the Weehawken, four 
struck the Adanta, and caused her surrender. The first 
w£^s a fifteen-inch shot, which, though it struck the case- 
mate of the Adanta at a very acute angle, smashed 
through both the iron armor and the wooden backing, 
strewed the deck with splinters, prostrated some forty 
officers and men by the concussion, and wounded several 
by the splinters and fragments of armor driven in. We 
can imagine the consternation of a crew which had 
come down confident of an easy victory. In fact, this one 
shot virtually settled the batde. The Weehawken fired an 
eleven-inch shot next, but this did litde damage. The 
third shot was from the fifteen-inch gun, and knocked off 
the top of the pilot-house, which projected slightly above 
the casemate, wounded the pilots, and stunned the men 
at the wheel. The fourth shot carried away one of 
the port-stoppers. Sixteen of her crew were wounded. 

The Atlanta was valued by the appraisers, for prize- 
money, at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, a sum, 



ATLANTA AND WEEHAWKEN. 209 

as Boynton remarks, easily won in fifteen minutes, with 
only five shots, and without a loss of a single man on the 
other side. More than this, it setded the value of that 
class of vessels, as compared with monitors, 

"As the fight of the Merrimac with the Cumberland, 
Congress and Minnesota virtually set aside as worthless 
for war purposes the vast wooden navies of Europe," so 
it showed that great changes and improvements were 
necessary in the broadside ironclads, if they were to be 
opposed to monitors armed with guns of great power. 
The result was a great increase in the thickness of armor, 
which went on, as the power of the guns increased, until 
now it is a question whether armor may not be abandoned, 
except for certain purposes. 



KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. JUNE 19TH, 
1864. 




'URING the summer of 1864, while Grant 
and his army were fighting the terrible 
battles which opened his way to the James, 
through Virginia; and the whole country 
was upon the very tenter-hooks of anxiety, 
a piece of news came across the water 
which gave more satisfaction to the country 
at large than many a hard-won battle has 
given, where a thousand times the numbers were 
engaged. It was the intelligence that the Alabama was 
at the bottom of the sea. 

We may borrow the words of Boynton, in his "History 
of the Navy during the Rebellion," to put the reader in 
possession of a part of the career of the notorious Ala- 
bama, previous to her meeting with the Kearsarge. 

No event of the great civil war excited such deep 
indignation, such bitter resentment, as the career of the 
Alabama. It was not alone because she committed such 
havoc with our commerce — burning our merchantmen in 
ereat numbers; nor was it because she had sunk the 
Hatteras — a merchant steamer converted into a gun- 
boat; but it was because England had sent out a British 
ship, with British guns, and seamen trained in her own 
practice-ship, a vessel English in every essential but her 
flag, to lay waste th^ commerce of a country with which 



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KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. 213 

she professed to be at peace. To add to the provocation, 
this vessel was ongh.^ny called the "290," to show, by 
the large number who had contributed to fit her out, how 
widespread was English sympathy for the cause she was 
to support. The Alabama was not regarded as a Con- 
federate vessel of war, but as an English man-of-war, 
sent forth under the thin veil of another flag, to sink and 
destroy our merchantmen. The short-lived triumph in 
which England indulged turned out to be about as costly a 
pleasure as she could well have taken ; and deeply mortified 
as we were that the successful rover should escape our 
watchful cruisers, and so long pursue, unmolested, her 
work of destruction, in the end the pride of England was 
more deeply and bitterly wounded than our own, while at 
the same time she was held responsible for the destruction 
of our property. England will probably have reason tc 
remember the Alabama quite as long as the Americans. 

The successful movements of this vessel were such as 
to attract the attention of Europe as well as America. 
Semmes, her commander, seemed to have been adopted 
as a sort of English champion, and judging from the 
expressions of most of the English papers, and what 
Americans believed to be the effective though quiet 
support of the English Government, the governing class, 
at least, in Great Britain were as much pleased with the 
success of the Alabama as were the people of the South. 
There was enough of mystery connected with the oper- 
ations to excite the imagination, and scarcely was any 
phantom ship ever invested with a more unreal character 
than was this modern highwayman of the sea. 

She seemed to be everywhere, and yet nowhere to be 
found when sought for by our ships ; and some were 
inchned to think that our naval officers were not very 
*iixious to find her. The result showed how little reason 



214 KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. 

there was for such an injurious suspicion. There could 
be no more difficult task than to overtake a single 
fast steamer to which all seas were open, and which 
constantly shifted her cruising ground. She seldom 
entered a port, getdng coal and provisions from captured 
vessels, and so could not readily be traced. She burned 
or sunk the captured vessels, and then disappeared. 
The public naturally magnified her size, speed and power, 
but the Navy Department was well informed about her, 
and knew just what sort of vessel to send in pursuit of her. 

Early in 1862 Captain John A. Winslow, of the United 
States Navy, was sent, in command of the steam-sloop 
Kearsarge, to cruise on the coast of Europe for the 
Alabama and her associate vessels. 

He blockaded the Florida for some time, but was 
forced to give her a chance to escape, by the necessity 
of going for coal and stores. He lay two months off 
Calais, where the Rappahannock was found, and at last, 
in despair of getting to sea, the Rebel cruiser was dis- 
mantled and laid up. 

Soon after this he learned that the Alabama was at 
Cherbourg, and he immediately sailed for that port, and 
took up a position off the famous breakwater. 

Semmes was now, for the first time, placed in a position 
where he would either have to fight the Kearsarge, or 
submit to be blockaded by a ship in every way a fair 
match for him. 

If he declined battle he would be disgraced in the eyes 
of all Europe. Should he succeed, his victory would have 
a great moral effect, especially from the scene of action, 
attracting general attention. People of all nations would 
hear of it, and augur well for the Confederate cause, 
whose attendon would never be drawn by such a combat, 
if it occurred on the other side of the Atlantic. 



KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. 215 

Putting a bold face upon his situation, he challenged 
Winslow. Considering that his ship was somewhat 
larger than the Kearsarge, that she carried one more gun, 
and that he had trained English gunners, of whom much 
was expected ; more than that, that his men were con- 
fident, from success, and had the sympathies of most of 
those about them, he had good reason to hope for success. 
Winslow and his crew well knew the consequences 
Involved in the batde. They were indignant, as all 
Northerners were, at the manner in which the Alabama 
had been fitted out, quite as much as at her depredations 
upon our commerce, and death would have been prefer- 
able to them, to being towed, a prize, into Cherbourg 
harbor. 

The news of the approaching batde soon spread, and 
was telegraphed in every direction. Crowds came down 
from Paris, yachts collected, and bets were freely made 
upon the result. 

The writer was in Cherbourg some time after this 
fight, and photographs of the Kearsarge, her officers, her 
battery, and the state of her decks after the action, were 
in many of the shop windows still. The Cherburgeois 
seemed glad that the Alabama and her English crew 
had been conquered off their town. At any rate, it was 
their interest to appear so, after the event. It was rather 
curious that no photographs of Semmes or his officers 
appeared in the windows. 

At length, on Sunday morning, June 19th, 1864, the 
Alabama, having made all her preparations, steamed out 
of Cherbourg, accompanied by the French ironclad frigate 
Couronne. The morning was a very fine one; the sea 
calm, and with alight haze upon the water, not suffi- 
cient to obscure the movements of the ships. The French 
Crigate accompanied the Alabama only so far as to make 



216 KEARSARGl AND ALABAMA 

It certain that she would not be attacJved until beyond 
the marine league, or line of French jurisdiction. A 
small steamer bearing an English yacht flag came out at 
the same time, but attracted no particular attention. 

The Alabama was first seen by the Kearsarge at about 
half-past ten, and the latter immediately headed seaward, 
not only to avoid all questions of jurisdiction, but to draw 
Semmes so far from shore that, in case his vessel was 
partially disabled in the coming fight, she could not 
escape by running into French waters. 

The Kearsarge then cleared for action, with her guns 
pivoted to starboard. Having reached a point about 
seven miles from shore, the Kearsarge turned short on 
her heel, and steered straight for the Alabama. 

The moment the Kearsarge came round the Alabama 
sheered, presenting her starboard battery, and slowed her 
engine. 

Winslow's intention was to run his adversary down, if 
opportunity presented, and he therefore kept on his 
course. When about a mile distant the Alabama fired 
a broadside, which did only very trifling damage to the 
Kearsarge's rigging. Winslow now increased his speed, 
intending to strike his enemy with full force, and in the 
next ten minutes the Alabama fired two more broadsides. 
Not a sbot struck the Kearsarge, and she made no 
reply; but, as the vessels were now not more than seven 
hundred yards apart, Captain Winslow did not deem it 
prudent to expose his ship to another raking fire, and the 
Kearsarge accordingly sheered and opened fire. The 
ships were thus brought broadside to broadside ; but it 
soon became evident that Semmes did not intend to fight 
a close action, and Winslow began to fear that he would 
make for the shore and escape. 

To prevent this, Winslow kept his vessel at full speed, 



KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. 219 

intending to run under the stern of the Alabama and 
secure a raking position. 

To avoid this the Alabama sheered, so as to keep her 
broadside to the Kearsarge, and as both vessels were 
under a full head of steam, they were forced into a circu- 
lar movement, steaming in opposite directions round a 
common centre, with the current setting them to the west- 
ward. Had they fought on parallel lines, with the 
Alabama heading inshore, she would have reached the 
line of French jurisdiction, and thus escaped. But, being 
thus compelled to steam in a circle, she was about five 
miles from the shore when, at the close of the action, she 
attempted to run into Cherbourg. 

The firing of the Alabama was, throughout the action, 
very rapid, but also very wild. During the first eighteen 
minutes not a man was Injured on board the Kearsarge. 
Then a 68-pound Blakely shell passed through the star- 
board bulwarks, about the main rigging, and exploded 
on the quarter-deck, wounding three men at the after 
pivot-gun, one of whom afterwards died of his wounds. 
This was the only casualty among the crew of the Kear- 
sarge during the whole engagement. 

The firing of the Kearsarge was very deliberate, and 
especial pains were taken with the aiming of the two 
1 1 -inch pivot-guns. At the distance at which they were 
fired, about half a mile, they were terribly effective. One 
shell disabled a gun on board the Alabama, and killed 
and wounded eighteen men. Another exploded in her 
coal-bunker, and completely blocked the engine room. 
Other shells tore greatgapsin the Alabama's sides, and it 
was soon evident that her race was run. For an hour 
this fire was exchanged, the Kearsarge suffering little, 
while almost every shot of hers struck the Alabama. The 
vaunted English gunners, with their Blakely guns, did not 



220 KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. 

seem to get the range. The Kearsarge's shell came with 
due deliberation, but as certain as fate, crashing through 
her sides, exploding within her or upon her decks, and 
sweeping away her crew, many of whom were literally 
torn to pieces by the fearful missiles. She was rapidly 
reduced to a wreck; her decks were strewn with the dead 
and wounded, and the water was pouring "in the gaps in 
her sides.- 

Semmes now made one desperate effort to escape, and 
suddenly bore up for the land, and made all sail that he 
could. But he was too late. The Alabama was sinking, 
and the water which poured into her soon put out her 
fires. 

One or two more shot brought down her flag. For a 
moment it was uncertain whether it had been hauled 
down or shot away, but soon a white flag was exposed, 
and the Kearsarge's fire ceased. 

In a moment more another gun was fired from the 
Alabama, and this wars at once returned. The Kearsaro^e 
now steamed ahead, and was laid across the Alabama's 
bows, with the intention of sinking her, but as the white 
flag was still flying, the fire was reserved. Then it was 
seen that the Alabama's boats were being lowered, and 
an oflicer came alongside, to inform Captain WInslow 
that the Alabama had surrendered, and was rapidly 
sinking. Only two boats were in a condition to be sent 
to the assistance of these people. These were promptly 
lowered and manned, but before they could reach her 
they saw the Alabama settle by the stern, raise her bows 
high in air, shake her mizzen-mast over the side, and 
plunge down to the bottom of the channel. The crew 
were left struggling in the water, and the boats of the 
Kearsarge picked up as many as they could, and hailed 
the small English yacht steamer, which had come out of 



KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. 221 

Cherbourg in the morning', giving him permission, and 
requesting him to assist in saving the prisoners. Both 
parties saved such as they could reach, and when no more 
were to be seen floating, the Americans, to their surprise, 
found the yacht making off, instead of dehvering the 
prisoners she had picked up. 

Winslow was astonished that such a thing should be 
done, and, supposing some mistake, and that they were 
disturbed by the catastrophe which had just occurred, did 
not fire into them, as he should have done. Among the 
rest, this Englishman, whose name was Lancaster, had 
picked up the Captain of the Alabama. 

The officer of the Alabama who came to surrender 
himself and the ship had permission to return, with his 
boat, to assist in saving life. He went to the English 
yacht and escaped in her. None of them seemed to feel 
any disgrace in making off in this way while the Kearsarge 
was engaged in saving life. The saddest sight of all was, 
that England was not ashamed of this man Lancaster, 
and associated him with Semmes, in the banquets and 
other recognition which the latter received in England. 

It was afterwards understood that this Lancaster was 
a '' noiiveau-richel' who had a yacht, and who was glad 
to be seen and identified with any notorious person. 
Many persons in England shared his feelings, and when 
the Alabama was sunk, she was much regretted by the 
rich men of Birmingham and Manchester, as well as by 
those of the higher nobility, who would not, on any 
account, speak on equal terms to those with whom they 
were in complete sympathy in the matter of our war. 
We must also consider that the man Lancaster had no 
experience in any kind of warfare, and that he probably 
knew no better, and even thought he was doing a clever 
thing. 



222 KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. 

In his letter acknowledging Captain Winslow's des- 
patch announcing tlie result of this action, Mr. Welles, 
the Secretary of the Navy, says : '* The Alabama repre- 
sented the best maritime effort of the best EnMish 
workshops. Her battery was composed of the well-tried 
32-pounders of fifty-seven hundred weight, of the famous 
68-pounder of the British navy, and of the only successful 
rifled loo-pounder yet produced in England. The crew 
were generally recruited in Great Britain, and many of 
them received superior training on board her Majesty's 
gunnery-ship, the Excellent. The Kearsarge is one of 
the first gun-boats built at our navy yards at the com- 
mencement of the Rebellion, and lacks the improvements 
of the vessels now under construction. 

:•: :i: * « ^\^q President has signified his intention to 
recommend that you receive a vote of thanks, in order 
that you may be advanced to the grade of Commodore. 
Lieutenant-Commander James S. Thornton, the execu- 
tive officer of the Kearsarge, will be recommended to the 
Senate for advancement ten numbers in his grade." * * 

Thornton was well known in the navy for his firmness, 
ability and courage. 

In regard to the conduct of the English yacht, the 
Secretary says, " That the wretched commander '''■ * * 
should have resorted to any dishonorable means to escape 
after his surrender ; that he should have thrown over- 
board the sword that was no longer his ; that before 
encountering an armed antagonist the mercenary rover 
should have removed the chronometers and other plunder 
stolen from peaceful commerce, are not matters of surprise, 
for each act is characteristic of one who has been false to 
his country and flag. You could not have expected, how- 
ever, that gentlemen, or those claiming to be gentlemen, 
would, on such an occasion, act in bad faidi, and that, 



KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. 223 

having been called upon or permitted to assist in res- 
cuing persons and property which had been surrendered 
to you, they would run away with either." ='' * * '^■ 

"The Alabama was an English built vessel, armed and 
manned by Englishmen; has never had any other than 
an English register; has never sailed under any recog- 
nized national flag since she left the shores of England; 
has never visited any port of North America ; and her 
career of devastation since she went forth from Endand 
is one that does not entide those of her crew who were 
captured to be paroled. This Department expressly 
disavows that act. Extreme caution must be exercised, 
so that we in no way change the character of this Eng- 
lish-built and English-manned, if not English-owned, 
vessel, or relieve those who may be implicated in sending 
forth this robber upon the seas from any responsibility to 
which they may be liable for the outrages she has com- 
mitted." 

The sagacity and far-sightedness of Mr. Welles in 
preventing the English Government from having any 
technical ground for escaping responsibility has since 
been triumphandy approved by the action of the Geneva 
Convention, in the damages brought in against England 
for the actions of this vessel. Unfortunately the English 
masses had to help to pay these damages, as well as the 
classes which had in every way fostered the Rebellion. 

It was stated in the English newspapers that the 
Kearsarge was an ironclad in disguise; and much more 
powerful, in every way, than the Alabama. Let us look 
at the facts. 

In the first place, the two vessels were much the same 
in size, the Alabama being a litde longer, and about one 
hundred tons larofer. 

Captain Winslow covers the whole orround in the 



224 KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. 

following statement: "The Kearsarge's battery consists 
of seven guns, two 1 1 -inch Dahlgrens, four 32-pounders, 
one light rifled 28-pounder. 

"The battery of the Alabama consisted of one 100- 
pounder, rifled; six 32-pounders, that is, one more gun 
than the Kearsarge. 

"In the wake of the engines on the outside the Kear- 
sarge had stopped up and down her sheet chains. 

" These were stopped by marline to eyebolts, which 
extended some twenty feet, and this was done by the 
hands of the Kearsarge ; the whole was covered by light 
plank, to prevent dirt collecting. It was for the purpose 
of protecting the engines when there was no coal in the 
upper part of the bunkers, as was the case when the 
action took place. The Alabama had her bunkers full, 
and was equally protected. The Kearsarge went into 
action with a crew of one hundred and sixty-two officers 
and men. The Alabama, by report of the Deerhound's 
officers, had one hundred and fifty. * * * -v. 'p|^g 
action lasted one hour and two minutes, from the first to 
the last shot. The Kearsarge received twenty-eight 
shots above and below, thirteen about her hull; the best 
shots were abaft the mainmast, two shots, which cut the 
chain stops, the shell of which broke the casing of wood 
covering; they were too high to damage the boilers had 
they penetrated. The Kearsarge was only slightly 
damaged, and I supposed the action for hot work had just 
commenced when it ended. 

"Such stuff as the Alabama firing when she was going 
down, and all such talk, is twaddle. 

"The Alabama, toward the last, hoisted sail to get away, 
when the Kearsarge was laid across her bows, and would 
have raked her had she not surrendered, which she had 



KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA ' 225 

done, and was trying to get her flags dowi., and showing 
a white flag over the stern. 

"The officers of the Alabama on board the Kearsarge 
say ih^t she was a complete slaughter-house, and was 
completely torn to pieces. This is all I know of the 
Alabama. 

"Of the one hundred and sixty-three officers and men 
of the Kearsarge, one hundred and fifty-two were native 
Americans, and two of the remaining eleven were 
Englishmen." 



MOBILE BAY. AUGUST 5, 1864 




ARRAGUT had returned to New York, aftef 
arduous service in the Mississippi, which 
cannot be told here, and had received 
the hearty congratulations and hospitalities 
of not only public bodies, but of all grate- 
ful citizens. He had been made Rear 
Admiral, a new rank in the United States, 
and had been thanked by Congress for 
his achievements. 
But, after about four months of rest and relaxation he 
was called to duty again, and early in Januar)^, 1864, he 
once more hoisted his flag upon the Hartford and sailed 
for the Gulf. His flag-ship had received much needed 
repairs, and, on examination, it was found that she had 
been struck two hundred and forty times by shot and 
shell. 

After a short stay at New Orleans, to settle naval 
matters there, he visited Ship Island and Pensacola, the 
established depots for supplies. 

He was now preparing for the long desired attack 
on Mobile Bay and its defences, which he had long con- 
templated, and was only prevented from carrying out 
before by the necessity of carrying out joint operations on 
the Mississippi River. 

It was impossible to prevent vessels from occasionally 
entering Mobile, no matter how vigilant the blockaders 



MOBILE BAY. 227 

were. Forts Morgan, Powell and Gaines protected the 
principal channels, and the light blockade-runners would 
creep along the shore, under cover of the night, under 
charge of experienced pilots, and soon be under the 
protecting guns* of the forts. Now and then some 
adventurous craft would suffer for her temerity, by being 
captured, or driven on shore and riddled with shot and 
shell ; but, still, too many got in. Most of these vessels 
had clearances for Matamoros, a Mexican town on the 
Rio Grande. 

A steamer was captured off Mobile which was evidently 
a blockade-runner. The Captain was sent on board the 
flag-ship, to be interrogated by the Admiral. Farragut 
recognized him as an old acquaintance, and one of the 
most experienced merchant captains in the Gulf trade. 
The Admiral asked him what in the world he was doing 
close in with Mobile, when he was three hundred miles out 
of his course for Matamoros. The Captain entered Into a 
long story about having been swept In shore by a norths 
east gale. When he had finished, Farragut smiled and 
said, "How could you be blown to the northward and 
eastward by a northeast gale ? I am very sorry for you, 
but we shall have to hold you for your thundering bad 
navigation. Among the articles captured in this vessel 
were one thousand copies of a caricature of General 
Butler, who has certainly had notoriety conferred upon 
him in that way as often as any one who ever lived. 

Personal reconnoissances and skirmishes with the 
different forts about Mobile occupied the Admiral for some 
time, and he recognized the importance of having light 
draft ironclads to fight those which the enemy were pre 
paring. 

He wrote, " I feel no apprehension about Buchanan's 
rsdfjV'i^ ^he blockade at Mobile, but with such a force as he 



228 MOBILE BAY. 

has in the Bay, it would be unwise to take in our wooden 
vessels, without the means of fighting the enemy on an 
equal footing. By reference to the chart you will see 
how small a space there is for the ships to manoeuvre." 

On the 2d of March he wrote, "I saw the Mobile ram 
Tennessee yesterday. She is very long, and I thought 
moved very slowly." 

He was most anxious to make the attack upon Mobile, 
Hs every week's delay rendered the work more dangerous. 
But he was delayed by the necessity of awaiting ships. 

In the meantime stirring work was going on inland, and 
the armies grappling in the fight of giants. Farragut's 
letters show that he was keenly alive to all that was going 
on, although the mental strain upon him in keeping up 
the blockade and in preparing for the undertaking he had 
in view, was very great. 

In a letter written in May he says, "We have the 
Southern papers of the 17th, and yet they contain no 
news. All is dark with respect to Grant and Lee. Grant 
has done one thing. He has gone to work making war 
and doing his best, and kept newsmongers out of his 
army. The only comfort I have is, that the Confederates 
are more unhappy, if possible, than we are." 

"We started with few good officers of experience, but 
shall end with some of the best in the world. Our fellows 
are beQ-inninof to understand that war means ficrhtinor." 

To Admiral Bailey, at Key West, he writes, "I am 
watching; Buchanan, in the ram Tennessee. She is a 
formidable looking thing, and there are four others, and 
three wooden gun-boats. They say he is waiting for the 
two others to come out and attack me, and then raid upon 
New Orleans. Let him come. I have a fine squadron 
to meet him, all ready and willing. I can see his boats 
very industriously laying down torpedoes, so I judge that 



MOBILE BAY. 



229 



he is quite as much afraid of our going in as we are of 
his coming out." 

On June 21st he writes, "I am tired of watching 
Buchanan and Page, and wish from the bottom of my 
heart that Buck would come out and try his hand upon 
us. This question has to be settled, iron versus wood, 
and there never was a better chance to setde the question 
as to the sea-going qualities of ironclad ships. We are 
to-day ready to try anything that comes along, be it wood 
or iron, in reasonable quantities. Anything is preferable 
to lying on our oars. But I shall have patience until the 
army has finished its campaign in Virginia and Georgia. 
I hope it will be the close of the war." 

On the 6th of July, he writes, "My birth-day; sixty- 
three years old. I was a litde down in the mouth, 
because I thought we had not done as well as we ought 
to, in destroying a blockade-runner that tried to force her 
way by us. But Dyer, in the Glasgow, ran her on shore 
under the guns of Fort Morgan, and I had been trying 
to get the gun-boats to destroy her, but they did bad 
work, and the Rebels were at it, night before last, trying 
to get her off I determined to send a party to board 
and set her on fire. Watson volunteered for the work, 
and I sent him, with Tyson, Ensign Dana, Whidng, 
Glidden, and Pendleton, and Master's Mate Herrick. 
Jouett and McCann covered the party. Well, as you may 
suppose, it was an anxious night for me ; for I am almost 
as fond of Watson as yourself, and interested in the 
others. I thought it was to be a hand-to-hand fight, if 
any. I sat up till midnight, and then thought they had 
found the enemy in too great force, and had given it up ; 
so I laid down to rest. About half an hour later the 
Rebel was reported to be on fire, and I was happy, 
betttuse I had heard no firing, and I knew the surprise was 



-30 MOBILE BAY. 

perfect. And so it turned out. - The Rebels scampered 
off as our fellows climbed on board. The boats returned 
about 2 o'clock a. m., all safe, no one hurt. I was anxious 
until their return. But no one knows what my feelings 
are ; I am always calm and quiet." 

'T have never seen a crew come up like our's. They 
are ahead of the old set in small arms, and fully equal to 
them at the great guns. They arrived here a new lot 
of boys and young men, and have now fattened up, and 
knock the nine-inch guns about like 24-pounders, to the 
astonishment of ever^'body." 

One more extract — for these show the man : — 

On July 20th, he wrote, "The victory of the Kearsarge 
over the Alabama raised me up. I would sooner have 
fought that fight than any ever fought on the ocean. 
Only think! It was fought like a tournament, in full view 
of thousands of French and English, with a perfect confi- 
dence, on the part of all but the Union people, that we" 
would be whipped. People came from Paris to witness 
the fight. Why, my poor little good-for-nothing Hatteras 
would have whipped her (the Alabama) in fifteen minutes, 
but for an unlucky shot in the boiler. She struck the 
Alabama two shots for one, while she floated. But the 
triumph of the Kearsarge was grand. Winslow had my 
old First Lieutenant of the Hartford, Thornton, in the 
Kearsarge. He Is as brave as a Hon, and as cool as a 
parson. I go for Winslow's promotion!" 

On the 31st of July all the monitors sent to Farragut 
had arrived, except the Tecumseh, and she was at Pensa- 
cola, to be ready in a day or two. 

The preparations for the attack upon the Mobile 
defences were now about completed, and Farragut had 
apprised each of his Commanders of his plans for passing 
Into the Bay. 



MOBILE BAY. 231 

Generals Canby and Granger had visited die Hartford, 
and in this interview it was agreed that all the troops that 
could be spared should be sent to co-operate with the 
fleet in the attack upon Forts Morgan and Gaines. 

Subsequendy Canby found he had not force sufficient 
to invest both forts ; so, at Farragut's suggesdon, he 
sent a body of troops to land on Dauphin Island, near 
Fort Gaines. The Admiral appreciated the assistance 
of the army in this case, and the responsibility of his 
position. He was not the man to begin the attack without 
having taken every precaution to insure success. He said 
he was ready to take the offensive the moment the troops 
were ready to act with him ; that there was no doing any- 
thing with these forts so long as their back doors were open. 
More than that, his communications had to be kept open 
for supplies, which required a force of troops to cut off 
all the enemy's land communications with Mobile. 

The 4th of August had been fixed as the day for the 
landing of the troops and the entrance Into the Bay, but 
the Tecumseh was not ready. General Granger promptly 
landed his troops on Dauphin Island at that date. As it 
turned out, all was for the best, for the Confederates were 
busily engaged, during the 4th, in throwing troops and 
supplies Into Fort Gaines, all of which were captured a 
few days afterward. 

The attack was then postponed until the 5th, and 
Farragut wrote a letter to his wife that nighty which Is a 
model of its kind, and shows he fully appreciated the 
desperate work before him. 

For it we must refer the reader to his Life, by his son, 
from which this account is principally taken. 

The battle of Mobile Bay was, very properly the 
crowning achievement of Farragut's naval career, for It 
was the most brilliant action in which he ever took part 



232 MOBILE BAY. 

Th(^ defences of the Bay, at the time of his attack, 
consisted mainly of three forts, Morgan, Gaines and 
Powell. Fort Morgan was one of the old brick forts, 
with a wall four feet eight inches thick. It is on the west 
end of a peninsula which encloses the Bay, called Mobile 
Point, and forms, with Gaines, the principal defence of 
the main ship channel to the Gulf. It was armed with 
eighty-six guns, of various calibre, some very heavy, and 
in exterior batteries were twenty-nine additional guns. 
The water battery had two rifled 32s, four lo-inch Co 
lumbiads, and one 8-inch Brookes rifle. The garrison, 
officers and men, numbered six hundred and forty. 

Fort Gaines is three miles northwest from Fort Morgan, 
at the eastern extremity of Dauphin Island. This is also 
a brick fort, and mounted thirty guns, with a garrison of 
forty-six officers and eight hundred and eighteen men. 

On the flats south and east of Fort Gaines innumerable 
piles were driven, to obstruct the passage of vessels, and 
from these, two lines of torpedoes extended towards Fort 
Morgan, terminating at a point a few hundred yards from 
that fort, marked by a red buoy. This pordon of the 
passage was left open for the use of blockade-runners, 
and vessels using it had to pass within easy range of the 
guns of the fort. 

Six miles northeast of Fort Gaines is another narrow 
channel, only fit for light draught vessels, called Grant's 
pass. There was a redoubt there, mounted with four 
very heavy guns. 

Auxiliary to this land defence the iron-clad steamer 
Tennessee lay about five hundred yards north of Fort Mor- 
gan. She was two hundred and nine feet long and forty 
feet wide, with an iron prow projecdng two feet below the 
water line. Her sloping sides were covered with armor 
varying in thickness from five to six. inches. She carried 



MOBILE BAY. 233 

six rifled guns in casemate, two of which were pivot, and 
the others broadside guns, throwing soHd projectiles oi 
one hundred and ten and ninety-five pounds respectively. 
The ports, of which there were ten, were so arranged 
that the pivot guns could be fought in broadside, sharp 
on the bow, and in a direct line with her keel. Her great 
defect was in the steering-gear, which was badly arranged 
and much exposed. Near her were anchored three 
wooden gun-boats, the Morgan, Gaines and Selma. The 
first carried one 6$ cwt. eight-inch gun, and five 57 cwt 
32-pounders; the Gaines, one eight- inch Brooke rifle and 
five 57 cwt. 32-pounders; the Selma, three eight-inch 
Paixhans and one old-fashioned heavy thirty-two, con- 
verted into a rifle and banded at the breech, throwing a 
solid shot of about sixty pounds. 

Farragut had long before issued general orders in 
regard to the attack, and made no secret of his intention 
to attack. They were as follows : — 

" Strip your vessels and prepare for the conflict. Send 
down all your superfluous spars and spare rigging. Put 
up the splinter-nets on the starboard side, and barricade 
the wheel and steers-men with sails and hammocks. Lay 
chains or sand bags on the deck, over the machinery, to 
resist a plunging fire. Hang the sheet chains over the 
side, or make any other arrangement for security that 
your ingenuity may suggest. Land your starboard boats, 
or lower and tow them on the port side, and lower the 
port boats down to the water's edge. Place a leadsman 
and the pilot in the port quarter-boat, or the one most 
convenient to the Commander. 

" The vessels will run past the forts in couples, lashed 
side by side, as hereinafter designated. The flag-ship 
will lead and steer frgm Sand Island N. by E., by compass, 



2o4 MOBIL.E BAY. 

until abreast of Fort Morgan, then N.W., half N., until 
past the middle ground, ihcn N. by W., and the others, 
as designated in the drawing, will follow in due order, 
until ordered to anchor; but the bow and quarter line 
must be preserved, to give the chase guns a fair range, 
and each vessel must be kept astern of the broadside of 
the next ahead ; each vessel will keep a very little on the 
starboard quarter of his next ahead, and when abreast of 
the fort will keep directly astern, and as we pass the 
fort, will take the same distance on the port quarter of 
the next ahead, to enable the stern guns to fire clear of 
the next vessel astern. 

"It will be the object of the Admiral to get as close to 
the fort as possible before opening fire; the ships, how- 
ever, will open fire the moment the enemy opens upon 
us, with their chase and other guns, as fast as they can be 
brought to bear. Use short fuses for the shell and 
shrapnel, and as soon as within 300 or 400 yards, give 
them grape. It is understood that heretofore we have 
fired too high, but with grape-shot, it- is necessary to 
elevate a little above the object, as grape will dribble 
from the muzzle of the gun. 

"If one or more of the vessels be disabled, their 
partners must carry them through, if possible; but if they 
cannot, then the next astern must render the required 
assistance ; but as the Admiral contemplates moving 
with the flood tide, it will only require sufficient power to 
keep the crippled vessels in the channel. 

"Vessels that can, must place guns upon the poop and 
top-gallant forecastle, and in the tops on the starboard 
side. Should the enemy fire grape, they will remove the 
men from the top-gallant forecastle and the poop to the 
guns below, until out of grape range. 

" The howitzers must kpep up a constant fire from the. 



MOBILE BAY. 235 

time they can reach with shrapnel until out of its range." 
* * * * ''There are certain black buoys placed by 
the enemy across the channel, from the piles on the west 
side of the channel towards Fort Morgan. It being 
understood that there are torpedoes and other obstruc- 
tions between the buoys, the vessels will take care to pass 
eastward of the easternmost buoy, which is clear of all 
obstructions. The Admiral will endeavor to remove the 
others before the day of attack, as he thinks they support 
that which will otherwise sink, and at least to destroy 
them for guides to the demons who hope to explode them. 
So soon as the vessel is opposite the end of the piles, it 
will be best to stop the propeller of the ship, and let her 
run in with her headway and the tide, and those havinfr 
side-wheel gun-boats will continue on with the aid of 
their paddles, which are not likely to foul with their drag 

ropes. 

D. G. Farragut, 

Rea7'- Admiral, Co7nmander Western Gulf Squadron 
P. S. — Carry low steam. 

D. G. F. 

As has been already mentioned, Farragut had fully 
determined to run into the bay, on the 4th of August, but 
had been prevented from doing so by the non-arrival of 
the monitor Tecumseh. But on the afternoon of the 4th 
she arrived, and took up her anchorage behind Sand 
Island, with the others of her class — the Winnebago, 
Manhattan, and Chickasaw. 

On the morning of the 5th, long before daylight, all 
hands were called "up hammocks," and while the Admiral, 
his Fleet-Captain and Fleet-Surgeon were having breakfast, 
daylight was reported, with weather threatening rain. Il 
was Friday, a day of bad omen for sailors ; but the clouds 



236 NKJBILE BAY. 

worked round, and the day came fair, which was, on the 
other hand, a good omen. The wind was west-southwest, 
too, just where the fleet wanted it, for it would blow the 
smoke upon Fort Morgan. 

At four o'clock the wooden ships formed in double 
column, lashed securely in pairs, in the following order, 
the first mentioned of each pair being the starboard vessel, 
or that next the fort. (The Admiral had concluded to let 
another ship lead, and he was second.) Here is the 
order: — 

f Brooklyn, Captain James Alden. 

1 Octorara, Lieutenant-Commander Green. 

f Hartford (flag-ship), Fleet-Captain Drayton. 

i Metacomet, Lieutenant-Commander Jouett. 

f Richmond, Captain Thornton Jenkins. 

i Port Royal, Lieutenant-Commander Gherardi. 
Lackawanna, Captain Marchand. 
Seminole, Commander Donaldson. 

J Monongahela, Commander J. H. Strong. 

( Kennebec, Lieutenant Commander McCann. 

J Ossipee, Commander Wm. E. LeRoy. 

\ Itasca, Lieutenant-Commander George Brown. 

J Oneida, Commander Mullany. 

1 Galena, Lieutenant-Commander Wells. 

The Brooklyn was appointed to lead, because she had 

four chase guns and apparatus for picking up torpedoes. 

At half-past five, while at the table, still sipping his 

tea, the Admiral quietly said, "Well, Drayton, we might 

as well get under way." 

Immediately the answering signals were shown from 
every vessel, and the wooden vessels prompdy took up 
their respective stadons, while the monitors came out 
from under Sand Island and formed on the right of the 
wooden ships, as follows : Tecumseh, Commander T. A. 



MOBILE BAY. 2,'] 7 

M. Craven; Manhattan, Commander J. W. A. Nicholson; 
(these were single-turreted, Eastern built, or sea moni- 
tors). The Winnebago, Commander T. A. Stevens; 
and the Chickasaw, Lieutenant-Commander Perkins, fol- 
lowed. The two last were double-turreted, Western 
built monitors, from the Mississippi river. 

The leading monitor was abreast of the leading wooden 
ship. 

The Confederate vessels took up position in single 
line, in echelon, across the channel, with their port bat- 
teries bearing to rake the advancing fleet. The ram 
Tennessee was a little westward of the red buoy spoken 
of already, and close to the inner line of torpedoes. 

Farragut had ordered six light steamers and gun-boats 
to take up a position outside, and open a flank fire on 
Fort Morgan, but they could not get near enough to be 
of much service. 

And now the attacking fleet steamed steadily in. At 
6.47 the first gun was fired by the monitor Tecumseh, 
and Fort Morgan at once replied. As the wooden 
vessels came within shorter range Farragut made signal 
for "closer order," which was promptly obeyed, each 
vessel closing up to within a few yards of the one ahead, 
and a little on the starboard quarter, thus enabling such 
ships as had chase guns to bring them to bear. 

The battle had opened, but at that time the enemy had 
the advantage, and the fleet now received a raking fire 
from the fort, battery, and Confederate vessels. This 
they had to endure for fully half an hour, before they 
could bring their batteries to bear with any effect. At the 
end of that time the Brooklyn and Hartford were enabled 
to open their broadsides, which soon drove the gunners 
of the fort from the barbette guns and water batteries. 

The scene on the poop of the flag-ship was now par- 



238 MOBILE BAY. 

ticularly Interesting, as all were watching eagerly the 
movements of the leading monitor, Tecumseh, The 
Admiral stood in the port main rigging, a few ratlines 
up, where he could see all about him and at the same 
time communicate easily with the Metacomet, lashed 
alongside. Freeman, his trusty pilot, was above him, In 
the top. Captain Drayton was on the poop, with the 
officers of the Admiral's staff, while Knowles, the Signal 
Quartermaster, attended to the signals. This petty officer, 
with the three seamen at the wheel, McFarland, 
Wood and Jassin, had been in every engagement of the 
ship, and steadily and coolly they now attended to their 
most important duties. All these were nearly stationary. 
The men at the wheel merely gave a spoke or two of 
helm, from time to time, in response to a short order. 

On the deck below, the gun crews were working with 
a will, and all was animation and bustle. 

As the smoke increased and obscured his view, the 
Admiral ascended the rigging, ratline by ratline, until he 
was up among the futtock shrouds, under the top. 
Captain Drayton, seeing him in this position, and fearing 
that some slight shock might precipitate him into the sea, 
ordered Knowles to take up a line, and make his position 
secure. Knowles says, 'T went up with a piece of lead- 
line, and made It fast to one of the forward shrouds, and 
then took It round the Admiral to the after shroud, 
making it fast there. The Admiral said, 'Never mind, I 
am all right,' but I went ahead and obeyed orders, for I 
feared he would fall overboard if anything should carr)' 
away or he should be struck." Here Farragut remained 
until the fleet entered the bay. 

Loyall Farragut gives a striking extract from the 
journal of one of the Hartford's officers, as follows : "The 
order was, to go slowly, slowly ; and receive the fire of 



MOBILE BAY. 239 

Fort Morgan. » * * * The fort opened, having 
allowed us to get into such short range that we appre- 
hended some snare ; in fact, I heard the order passed for 
our guns to be elevated for fourteen hundred yards some 
time before one was fired. The calmness of the scene was 
sublime. No impatience, no irritation, no anxiety, except 
for the fort to open ; and after it did open full five minutes 
elapsed before we answered. 

"In the meantime the guns were trained as if at a 
target, and all the sounds I could hear were, 'Steady! 
boys, steady! Left tackle a little; so! sol' Then the 
roar of a broadside, and an eager cheer, as the enemy 
were driven from their water battery. Don't imagine 
they were frightened; no man could stand under that iron 
shower ; and the brave fellows returned to their guns as 
soon as it lulled, only to be driven away again. 

'* At twenty minutes past seven we had come within 
rano-e of the enemy's gun-boats, which opened their fire 
upon the Hartford, and as the Admiral told me afterward, 
made her their special target. First they struck our 
foremast, and then lodged a shot of 1 20 pounds in our 
mainmast. By degrees they got better elevation, and I 
have saved a splinter from the hammock netting io show 
how they felt their way lower. Splinters, after that, came 
by cords, and in size, sometimes, were like logs of wood. 
No longer came the cheering cry, ' nobody hurt yet.' 
The Hartford, by some unavoidable chance, fought the 
enemy's fleet and fort together for twenty minutes by 
herself, timbers crashing, and wounded pouring down- 
cries never to be forgotten." 

By half-past seven the Tecumseh was well up with the 
fort, and drawing slowly by the Tennessee, having her 
on the port beam, when she suddenly reeled to port and 
went down, with almost every soul on board, destroyed 



240 MOBILE BAY. 

by a torpedo. Commander Craven, in his eagerness to 
engage the ram, had passed to the west of the fatal buoy. 
If he had gone but the breadth of his beam to the east- 
ward of it, he would have been safe, so far as the torpedoes 
were concerned. 

This very appalHng disaster was not immediately 
realized by the fleet. Some supposed the Tennessee 
had been sunk, or some signal advantage gained over the 
enemy, and cheers from the Hartford were taken up and 
echoed along the line. But the Admiral, from his lofty 
perch, saw the true state of things, and his anxiety was 
not decreased when the leading ship, the Brooklyn, just 
ahead of him, suddenly stopped. Hailing the top, above 
him, he asked Freeman, the pilot, " What is the matter 
with the Brooklyn ? She must have plenty of water 
there." "Plenty, and to spare, Admiral," the pilot 
replied. Alden had seen the Tecumseh suddenly en- 
gulfed, and the heavy line of torpedoes across the channel 
made him pause. 

The Brooklyn then began to back ; the vessels in the 
rear pressing on those in the van soon created confusion, 
and disaster seemed imminent. "The batteries of our 
shipj^ were almost silent," says an eye-witness, "while the 
whole of Mobile Point was a living flame. 

" Whax's the trouble?" was shouted, through a trumpet, 
from the I'^ag-ship to the Brooklyn. " Torpedoes !" was 
shouted back, in reply. " Damn the torpedoes !" said 
Farragut. " Four bells ! Captain Drayton, go ahead ! 
Jouett, full speed !" And the Hartford passed the 
Brooklyn, assumed the head of the line, and led the fleet 
to victory. It was the one only way out of the difficulty, 
and any hesitation would have closed even this escape 
from a frightful disaster. Nor did the Admiral forget 
the few poor fellows who were struggling in the water 



MOBILE BAY. 24! 

when the Tecumseh went clown, but ordered Jouett, of 
the Metacomet, to lower a boat and pick them up. This 
was done, the boat being commanded by a mere boy, an 
Acting Master's mate, by the name of Henry Clay 
Nields, a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, who 
lately died, a Lieutenant-Commander. This gallant fellow 
and his small boat's crew pulled coolly Into a perfect flurry 
of shot and shell, and while doing so (remembering the 
standing orders about boats showing flags), he coolly 
got' his out and hoisted It, and then took his seat again, 
and steered for the struorcrlinor survivors of the Tecumseh. 

00 o 

This w^as as conspicuous an act of gallantry as was per- 
formed on that eventful day. 

A Confederate officer, who was stationed in the water 
battery at Fort Morgan, says the manoeuvring of the 
vessels at this critical juncture was a magnificent sight. 
At first they appeared to be In Inextricable confusion, and 
at the mercy of their guns, and when the Hartford dashed 
forward, they realized that a grand tactical movement 
had been accomplished. 

The Hartford had passed nearly a mile ahead before 
the line could be straightened, but the vessels were soon 
able to pour In a storm of shell, shrapnel and grape, that 
completely silenced the batteries ; not, however, before 
they had all suffered more or less. The Oneida, having 
the most exposed position, at the rear of the column, was 
severely handled. The wisdom of lashing the vessels 
two-and-two was now manifest ; for this ship, though in a 
helpless condition, was easily towed along by her consort, 
the Galena, with the flood-tide. The Admiral's theory, 
" that the safest way to prevent injury from an enemy is 
to strike hard yourself," was exemplified In his warning to 
his captains, to run close to Fort Morgan, and use shell* 
shrapnel and grape freely. It is said that the Richmond 



242 mobilp: bay. 

and Brooklyn were saved from destruction at the time 
the line was being- straightened, by the rapid broadside.-; 
of shrapnel which those ships poured into the water 
battery. The aim of the artillerists on shore was discon- 
certed by the dense smoke which enveloped the ships, 
and they were driven from their guns by the rapid firing. 
An officer who was in the engagement remarks, that it 
was "painfully apparent, judging from the number of 
shot that passed over the rail of my ship, that a few yards 
to the west would have increased the damage and 
casualties." 

As soon as the Hartford had crossed the torpedo- 
ground and was steaming rapidly up the channel, Bu- 
chanan, on the Tennessee, saw the blue flag of Farragut. 
He made a dash to ram the latter's flag-ship, but failed 
to do so, the ships merely exchanging shots. By 
this time the Brooklyn and Richmond had passed safely 
over the obstructions, and were following in the wake of 
the Hartford. The Tennessee now turned her attention 
to the Brooklyn, making for her starboard bow; but 
when within about one hundred yards of that ship, she 
starboarded her helm and passed within two hundred 
feet of her, pouring in a broadside which went through 
and through her, doing great damage. Passing on, she 
attempted the same manoeuvre with the Richmond, the 
next in line, apparendy first attempdng to ram, and then 
sheering off Captain Jenkins saw her approaching, and 
placed marines on the forecasde, with orders to fire into 
the great ram's ports whenever the iron shutters opened, 
at the same time giving orders to use solid shot in his 
heavy guns, and to aim at the Tennessee's water-line. 
The two vessels passed each other at their best speed. 

Whether from the rapidity of the movement or the 
precaution taken by Captain Jenkins to disconcert the 



MOBILE BAY. 



243 



aim of the gunners, the Tennessee's shot passed over the 
Richmond. 

She also missed the Lackawanna, but the fire from her 
heavy guns created sad havoc when they struck, while 
the shot from the Union fleet failed to make any impres- 
sion on her mailed sides. 

Captain Strong, in the Monongahela, now attempted 
to ram her, but she avoided the blow, and the two vessels 
collided at an acute angle, the ram swinging alongside of 
the Monongahela's consort, the Kennebec, whose sharp 
cutwater sheared her barge in two. A shell from the 
Tennessee exploded on the Kennebec's berth-deck, and 
came near setting her dangerously on fire ; but, by the 
cool conduct of the officers, confidence was quickly 
restored. 

The ram then attacked the crippled Oneida, running 
under her stern and delivering two broadsides in rapid 
succession, destroying her boats and dismounting a 
twelve-pound howitzer upon her poop. Captain Mullany 
was severely wounded at this time, after having escaped 
injury off the forts, where he had borne so heavy a fire. 

The Tennessee then returned to her anchorage under 
the guns of Fort Morgan. 

As soon as he was clear of the fire of the forts, Farra- 
gut had turned his attention to the enemy's gun-boats. 
Their heavy raking fire had been a source of great 
annoyance. One shot from the Selma, alone, had killed 
ten men and wounded five. After the fleet had passed 
the obstructions these vessels had continued the contest, 
keeping up with the leading ships and exchanging shots, 
thus separating themselves widely from the Tennessee. 

Soon the Gaines was in a sinking condition, and her 
commander ran her aground, under the guns of Fort 
Morgan, where she was afterwards set on fire. 



244 MOBILE BAY. 

A few minutes after she had quitted the fight, the Selma 
and Morgan, seeing the hopelessness of the encounter, 
also retreated, the former up the bay, and the latter 
down towards Navy Cove, some distance to the east- 
ward. 

It was then that the Admiral made the signal, "Gun- 
boats chase enemy's gunboats." In a moment the Meta- 
comet had cut the lashings which confined her to the flag- 
ship, and was off. 

The Metacomet was the fastest of all the smaller 
vessels, and so it came that she engaged the Morgan. 
Just then firing was interrupted by a thick rain-squall. 
During the squall the Morgan, as was learned afterwards, 
grounded upon a long spit which runs out for about a 
mile from Navy Cove. 

In the meantime the Metacomet, Port Royal, Kenne- 
bec, and Itasca had started after the Selma, and the 
Metacomet captured her, three or four miles up the bay. 
The Morgan backed off the shoal, and proceeded to Fort 
Morgan; and that same night, under a starlit sky, her 
captain, Harrison, made a hazardous but successful 
retreat up to Mobile, being pursued and fired at by 
several of the Union gun-boats. 

Farragut's fleet now came to anchor about three miles 
up the bay, with anchors hove short. They had scarcely 
done so when they saw the ram Tennessee steering 
directly for the flag-ship. Buchanan had anticipated 
Admiral Farragut, for the latter had intended to attack 
the ram the moment it was dark enough for the smoke 
to prevent Page, the commander of the fort, from dis- 
tinguishing friend from foe. He had already made a 
plan to go in with die three monitors, himself in the 
Manhattan, and board her, if it was found feasible. He 
now accepted the situauon, and signalled the fleet to 



MOBILE BAY. 



247 



"attack the ram, not only with their guns, but bows on, at 
full speed." 

The Monongahela was under way at the time, and 
Strong immediately dashed off for the ram at full speed; 
but the Tennessee paid no attention to her, merely 
putting her helm aport, which caused the Monongahela 
to strike her .obliquely. The ram also fired two shots at 
the Monongahela, which pierced her through and through, 
while Strong's shot glanced harmlessly from her sloping 

sides. 

The Chickasaw at this time hit the ram with a solid 
bolt, which merely penetrated her armor, without doing 
serious damage. 

The next vessel to bear down on the Tennessee waff 
the Lackawanna, and she suffered more than the ram. 
She had a fair stroke at her, and stove her bow in fot 
some feet above and below the water-line, while the shock 
to the Tennessee was slight, and she quickly righted, and 
moved steadily for the Hartford. The latter now took 
the aggressive, and, following in the wake of the Lacka- 
wannt, struck the ram a fearful blow, and then poured 
in a broadside, but all without effect. 

The ram had one great advantage. She was sur- 
ounded by enemies, and could fire continually, while the 
Union vessels had to use the utmost care not to fire into 
or collide with one another. This did happen to the 
flag-ship, just as she was preparing to attack a second 
time, for the Lackawanna ran into her, and cut her down 
nearly to the water's edge. 

In the meantime the monitors, Manhattan, Winnebago 
and Chickasaw, had been pounding the ram with their 
neavy shot, and her steering apparatus and smoke-stack 
were shot away, and her port-shutters jammed, while one 
15-inch shot had found a weak spot, and penetrated her 



248 MOBILE BAY. 

armor. Admiral Buchanan was wounded, and the Ten 
nessee showed a white flag and surrendered. 

The success was complete, but had cost the Union fleet 
three hundred and thirty-five men. 

Of one hundred and thirty souls in the Tecumseh, 
seventeen were saved, and one hundred and thirteen 
drowned. The other casualties, fifty-two killed and 
one hundred and seventy wounded, were distributed 
as follows : Hartford, twenty-five killed, twenty-eight 
wounded ; Brooklyn, eleven killed, forty-three wounded ; 
Lackawanna, four killed, thirty-five wounded; Oneida, 
eight killed, thirty wounded ; Monongahela, six wounded ; 
Metacomet, one killed, two wounded ; Ossipee, one killed, 
seven wounded; Richmond, two slightly wounded ; Galena, 
one wounded ; Octorara, one killed, ten wounded ; Ken- 
nebec, one killed, six wounded. 

Knowles, the Signal Quartermaster already mentioned, 
says that the Admiral came on deck just as the poor 
fellows who had been killed were being laid out on the 
port side of the quarter-deck. He says, "It was the only 
time I ever saw the old gentleman cry, but the tears came 
in his eyes, like a little child." 

The losses among the enemy's vessels were confined 
to the Tennessee and Selma — ten killed and sixteen 
wounded. The loss in the forts Is not known. 

Next morning Farragut published the following :— 

(GENERAL ORDER No. 12.) 

United States Flag-ship Hartford, , 
Mobile Bay, August, 6, 1864. 
" The Admiral returns thanks to the officers and crews 
of the vessels of the fleet for their gallant conduct during 
the fight of yesterday. 

" It has never been his good fortune to see men do 



MOBILE BAY. 249 

their duty with more courage and cheerfulness; for, 
although they knew that the enemy was prepared with 
all devilish means for our destruction, and though they 
witnessed the almost instantaneous annihilation of our 
gallant companions in the Tecumseh by a torpedo, and 
the slaughter of their friends, messmates and gun-mates 
on our decks, still there were no evidences of hesitation in 
following their- Commander-in-chief through the line of 
torpedoes and obstructions, of which we knew nothing, 
except from the exaggerations of the enemy, who had 
given out, 'that we should all be blown up as certainly as 
we attempted to enter.' 

" For this noble and impUcit confidence in their leader, 
he heartily thanks them. 

"D. G. Farragut, 

" Rear- Admiral Commanding W. G. B. Squadron!' 
». 

The gallantry of Acting Ensign Nields, in going to the 
rescue of the survivors of the Tecumseh has been alluded 
to. In connection with that lamentable event it is related 
that when the monitor was going down, Commander 
Craven and the pilot, whose name was Collins, met at 
the foot of the ladder leading to the top of the turret ; 
Craven, knowing that it was through no fault of the 
pilot, but by his own order, that the course had been 
changed to the other side of the buoy, stepped back, 
saying, "After you. Pilot." "There was nothing after 
me," said Mr. Collins, in relating the event, " for when I 
reached the top round of the ladder the vessel seemed to 
drop from under me." Among those who went down 
with Craven was Chief Engineer Faron, who rose from 
a sick bed, in the hospital at Pensacola, to go on board 
the Tecumseh. 

Admiral Farragut highly complimented Fleet-Surgeon 



250 MOBILE BAY. 

Palmer, for certain extra service. It happened that the 
Admiral's steam barge came into the bay, under the 
port side of the Seminole. Fleet-Surgeon Palmer, having 
attended to the wounded on board the flag-ship, and 
leaving them in the hands of his assistants, wished to visit 
the wounded of the other vessels, and the Admiral gave 
him the steam barge. He had just shoved off when the 
Tennessee was seen steaming for the Hartford. The 
Admiral beckoned to Palmer, just before he made the 
general signal, and desired him to "go to all the monitors, 
and tell them to attack that Tennessee." Afterwards 
he wrote to Dr. Palmer, and expressing some opinions 
in regard to war duty, says, '•' * * 'T am happy to 
say that, from my own experience, war is the time when ^ 
have always found the medical officers ready and willing 
to do their duty without regard to personal risk." * * * 

When a shot perforated the starboard boiler of the 
Oneida, scalding thirteen men, one gun's crew wavered 
for a moment as the steam rushed out, but, at the order 
of Commander Mullany, " Back to your quarters, men !" 
they instantly returned to their gun. Mullany soon after 
lost his arm, and was wounded in several other places. 

The incident of Farragut's being lashed aloft has 
created much controversy. The fact of his being lashed 
in the futtock shrouds was shown in a picture by Page, 
which was afterwards presented to the Emperor of 
Russia. The fact was, that the Admiral did not remain 
long anywhere. While the fleet was entering the bay, 
he was in the port main rigging, where he was secured 
by Knowles, the Quartermaster, as has been mentioned. 
But when the ram made her att<ack he had come down 
on deck, and, as the Hartford was about to ram the 
Tennessee, he got into the port mizzen rigging, where, 
as his Flag-Lieutenant, J. Crittenden Watson, says, "I 



MOBILE BAY. 251 

secured him by a lashing passed with my own hands, 
having first begged him not to stand in such an exposed 
place." 

Surgeon General Palmer writes: "The Richmond waved 
to me as I passed in the Loyall (the steam-barge), and 
told me that Admiral Farragut had pardy signalled for 
me to return, which I did immediately. When I got near 
enough to the Hartford, the Admiral himself hailed, and 
directed me to go on board the captured ram and look 
after Admiral Buchanan, who was wounded. It wa3 
difficult, even from a boat, to get on board the Tennessee, 
and I had to make a long leap, assisted by a strong man's 
hand. I literally scrambled through the iron port, and 
threaded my way among the piles of confusion, to a ladder, 
by which I mounted to where Admiral Buchanan was 
lying, in a place like the top of a truncated pyramid. 
Somebody announced me, and he answered (tone polite» 
but savage) T know Dr. Palmer;' but he gave me his 
hand. I told him I was sorry to see him so badly hurt, 
but that I should be glad to know his wishes. He 
answered, T only wish to be treated kindly, as a prisoner 
of war.' My reply was, 'Admiral Buchanan, you know 
perfecdy well you will be treated kindly,' Then he said, 
'I am a Southern man, and an enemy, and a rebel.' I 
felt a little offended at his tone, but rejoined carefully that 
he was at that moment a wounded person and disabled, 
and that I would engage to have his wishes fulfilled. As 
to the present disposal of his person, that Admiral Far- 
ragut would take him on board the Hartford, or send him 
to any other ship he might prefer. He said he didn't 
pretend to be Admiral Farragut' s friend, and had no right 
to ask favors of him, but that he would be satisfied with 
any decision that m.ight be come to. Dr. Conrad, lately 
an assistant Surgeon in our Navy, told me he was Fleet- 



252 MOBILE BAY. 

Surgeon, and desired to accompany Buchanan wherever 
he might go. (It had been proposed by Dr. Conrad to 
amputate the injured leg of the Confederate Admiral, but 
Palmer dissented from his opinion, and declined to have 
the operation performed, and for his skillful management 
of the case received grateful acknowledgments, in after 
life, from Buchanan.) "I promised that he should, and 
returned to the Hartford, and reported to Admiral 
Farragut, circumstantially. This generous man seemed 
hurt at Buchanan's irritated feeling, and said he (Bu- 
chanan) had formerly professed friendship for him. I 
saw there must be some embarrassment in bringing them 
together, and therefore proposed that I should have a 
steamer to take all the wounded to Pensacola, and another 
one to send all ordinary invalids to New Orleans." 

To carry out this suggestion Farragut addressed a 
note to Brigadier-General R. L. Page, commanding Fort 
Morgan (formerly of tlie United States Navy), informing 
him that Admiral Buchanan and others of the Tennessee 
had been wounded, and desiring to know whether he 
would permit one of our vessels, under a flag of truce, 
to convey them, with or without our wounded, to Pen- 
sacola, on the understanding that the vessel should take 
out none but the wounded, and bring nothing back that 
she did not take out. This was acceded to, and all the 
wounded sent. 

In his official report to the Navy Department, Admiral 
Farragut, after awarding praise to many of the officers, 
mentioning them by name, says, " The last of my staff to 
whom I would call the attention of the Department is not 
the least in importance. I mean Pilot Martin Freeman. 
He has been my great reliance in all difficulties, in his 
line of duty. During the action he was in the main-top, 
piloting the ships into the bay. He was cool and brave 



MOBILE BAY. 253 

throughout, never losing his self-possession. This man 
was captured, early in the war, in a fine fishing-smack, 
which he owned, and though he protested he had no 
interest in the war, and only asked for the privilege of 
fishing for the fleet, yet his services were too valuable to 
the captors, as a pilot, not to be secured. He was ap- 
pointed a first-class pilot, and has served us with zeal and 
fidelity, and has lost his vessel, which went to pieces on 
Ship Island. I commend him to the Department." 

The importance of Farragut's success was fully appre- 
ciated, both North and South, while an English Service 
paper named him as " the first naval officer of the day, as 
far as actual reputation, won by skill, courage and hard 
fighting, goes." 

General Granger's troops, after Forts Gaines and 
Powell had surrendered, had been transferred to the rear 
of Fort Morgan, and that work was invested on August 9th. 

Page was summoned to surrender, but firmly refused, 
and seemed disposed to hold out stubbornly. It then 
became a question of time. Troops were poured in, 
heavy siege guns placed in position, and the investing 
lines drawn closer and closer. Even the captured Ten- 
nessee's formidable battery was turned against the fort. 
A battery of four nine-inch Dahlgren guns, manned by 
seamen from the fleet, and under the command of 
Lieutenant Tyson, of the Navy, also took part in the 
siege. General Granger, in his report of the operations, 
compliments them highly, not only for their faithful work 
"in getting their guns into the difficult position selected 
for their batteries," but for " their distinguished skill and 
accuracy during the bombardment." 

After a furious cannonade, on August 2 2d, which was 
gallantly responded to by Morgan, that fort surrendced 
unconditionally on the 23d. 



254 MOBILE BAY. 

The total number of prisoners captured in the defences 
of Mobile was one thousand four hundred and sixty-four, 
with one hundred and four guns. 

Mobile forts being once secured, Farragut next turned 
his attention to the dangerous work of taking up torpe- 
does^ twenty-one of which were picked up in the main 
ship channel, from which many beside had been swept 
away, and many had sunk. 

On September ist despatches arrived from the North, 
marked 'Important.' These proved to be from the Navy 
Department, warning him not to attempt an attack upon 
the Mobile defences unless he was sure that he had a 
sufficient force, as powerful reinforcements would be sent 
to him as soon as possible. We can imagine his satisfac- 
tion in looking round him, and feeling that the work was 
done. 

In his congratulatory letter to Admiral Farragut, 
Secretary Welles said: "In the success which has attended 
your operations, you have illustrated the efficiency and 
irresistible power of a naval force led by a bold and 
vigorous mind, and the insufficiency of any batteries to 
prevent the passage of a fleet thus led and commanded. 

"You have, first on the Mississippi, and recently in the 
bay of Mobile, demonstrated what had been previously 
doubted, the ability of naval vessels, properly manned and 
commanded, to set at defiance the best constructed and 
most heavily armed fortifications. In these successive 
victories you have encountered great risks, but the 
results have vindicated the wisdom of your policy and the 
daring valor of your officers and seamen." 

The further operations about the City of Mobile need 
not be gone into. 

Farragut's health had somewhat failed, with the strain 
of the previous two years* work and a long stay in the 



MOBILE BAY. 



257 



Gulf climate, and he was ordered home in November, 
1864. Upon his arrival in New York great preparations 
were made for his reception, and formal congratulations 
were presented to him from the City of New York ; the 
Chamber of Commerce, and other bodies. 

On December 2 2d a bill creating the rank of Vice- 
Admiral was introduced into Congress, and passed both 
houses. On the 23d the President signed it, and named 
Farragut for the office, which nomination was immediately 
confirmed by the Senate. 

On July 25th, 1866, Congress passed a law creating the 
grade of Admiral, which had never before existed in oui' 
Navy, and, as a matter of course, the office was immedi- 
ately conferred upon Farragut. 

Thus was gratified his most legitimate ambition. When 
there was a talk of making him a candidate for the Presi- 
dency he said, 'T am greatly obliged to my friends, but 
am thankful that I have no ambition for anything but 
what I am, an Admiral." 




LB SOLFBRINO {a Epcron), 1865. 
(Fust-class French Ironclad, with Ram.) 



GUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. OCTOBER, 
1864. 




HE Sounds and waters of North Carolina 
were early the scenes of important enter- 
prises by the combined Army and Navy 
of the United States. The Hatteras forts, 
Roanoke Island, Newbern, Plymouth and 
other places were early captured, some of 
them after regular actions. A position was 
gained from which the important inland 
communication was threatened, which was vital to the 
Confederacy, while the commerce of the Sounds was 
entirely put a stop to. 

It was important for them to regain what they had lost, 
and to this end they put forth every effort. 

Among other means they commenced and hastened to 
completion a formidable iron-clad vessel. In June, 1863, 
Lieutenant-Commander C. W. Flusser, an excellent and 
thoroughly reliable officer, had reported that a battery 
was building at Edward's Ferry, near Weldon, on the 
Roanoke River, to be cased with pine sills, fourteen 
inches square, and plated with railroad iron. The slanting 
roof was to be made of five inches of pine, five inches of 
oak, and railroad iron over that. 

Unfortunately, the light-draught monitors, which should 
have been on hand to meet this vessel, turned out failures, 
and the light wooden gun-boats and "double eoders" 
258 



GUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 259 

employed in the Sounds had to encounter her. She was 
accompanied by a ram, which the Union fleet had no 
vessel fit to meet. 

In April, 1864, the Albemarle being completed, the 
Confederates were ready to carry out their plan of 
attack, which was first to recapture Plymouth, by the 
assistance of the ram, and then send her into Albemarle 
Sound, to capture or disperse our fleet. A force of ten 
thousand men, which they had collected, made an advance, 
and gained possession of the town. 

Lieutenant-Commander Flusser was then at Plymouth, 
with four vessels, the Miami, a "double-ender,"and three 
ferry-boats, armed with nine-inch guns, and exceedingly 
frail in structure, called the Southfield, Ceres and White- 
head. At half-past nine, on the evening of April i8th, 
he wrote to Admiral Lee that there had been fighting 
there all day, and he feared the enemy had had the best 
of it. "The ram will be down to-night or to-morrow. 
* * * I shall have to abandon my plan of fighting the 
ram lashed to the Southfield. * * * I think I have 
force enough to whip the ram, but not sufficient to assist 
in holding the town, as I should like." 

Six hours after writing this, Flusser lay dead upon the 
deck of his ship. 

Very early on the morning of the 19th of April the 
Whitehead, which had been stationed up the river, reported 
that the ram was coming down. 

The Whitehead was in a critical position when she 
discovered the ram, for she was between her and a rebel 
battery. Some obstructions had been placed to stop the 
Albemarle, but she passed them easily. A narrow passage 
or " thoroughfare " led down to Plymouth beside the 
main channel, and the Whitehead managed to run into 
this, unperceived by the ram, and so got down ahead of 



26o CUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 

the Confederate vessel, which did not attack until half- 
past three in the morning. When the ironclad was 
seen coming down, the Miami and Southfield were lashed 
together, and Flusser, from the Miami, ordered them to 
meet her, at full speed. 

The Albemarle came on silently, with closed ports, and 
struck the Miami a glancing blow on her port bow, doing 
some damage, but causing no leak. She then crushed 
the side of the Southfield, so that she at once began to 
sink. As she passed between the two vessels, the forward 
lashings parted, and the Miami swung round. The after 
lashings were cut, and, after a number of the Southfield's 
men had succeeded in reaching the Miami that vessel 
steamed off down the river, leaving her consort to sink. 
The officer left in command by Flusser's death thus speaks 
of this unfortunate affair : — 

" As soon as the battery could be brought to bear upon 
the ram, both steamers, the Southfield and Miami, com- 
menced firing solid shot from the loo-pound Parrott rifles 
and 1 1 -inch Dahlgren guns, they making no perceptible 
indentations in her armor. Commander Flusser fired the 
first three shots from the Miami personally, the third being 
a ten-second Dahlgren shell, 1 1 -inch. It was direcdy 
after that fire that he was killed by pieces of shell ; several 
of the gun's crew were wounded at the same time. Our 
bow hawser being stranded, the Miami then swung round to 
starboard, giving the ram a chance to pierce us. Necessity 
then required the engine to be reversed in motion, to 
straighten the vessel in the river, to prevent going on 
the bank of the river, and to bring the rifle-gun to bear 
upon the ram. During the time of straightening the 
steamer the ram had also straightened, and was making 
for us. From the fatal effects of her prow upon the 



CUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 261 

Southfield, and of our sustaining injury, ? deemed if 
useless to sacrifice the Miami in the same way." 

The gun-boats being driven off, the Confederates cap- 
tured Plymouth on April 20th. As it was expected tha? 
the Albemarle would at once enter the Sound, and attack 
the squadron there, all possible preparations were made 
to meet her. 

Four of the squadron were "double enders," the Miami, 
Mattabesett, Sassacus and Wyalusing. The smaller 
vessels were the Ceres, Commodore Hull, Seymour and 
Whitehead. They were all armed with 9-inch guns and 
1 00-pound rifles. 

The Senior Officer in the Sounds, Captain M. Smith, 
ordered the large vessels to pass as close as possible to 
the ram, delivering their fire, and rounding to immediately 
for a second discharge. He also suggested the vulnerable 
points of the ram, and recommended that an endeavor be 
made to foul her propeller, if possible. 

He also directed, among other things, that a blow of 
the ram should be received as near the stern as possible, 
and the vessel rammed was to go ahead fast, to prevent 
her from withdrawing it, while the others attacked the 
propeller. If armed launches accompanied the ram they 
were to be met by the smaller vessels, with shrapnel, 
when approaching, and hand grenades when near. He 
leaves the question of ramming to each commander, on 
account of the peculiar construction of the " double- 
enders." 

Small steamers were placed on picket, at the mouth of 
the Roanoke, and on the 5 th of May the ram made its 
appearance, and chased the picket boats in. Signals were 
made, and the vessels got under way, and stood up to 
engage the ironclad. The Albemarle was accompanied 
by a small steamer which she had captured not long 



262 CtJSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 

before. At about half-past four in the afternoon the 
Albemarle opened the battle by a shot which destroyed 
a boat and wounded several men on board the Mattabe- 
sett. The second shot damaged the same vessel's rig- 
ging. By this time the Mattabesett was very near the little 
steamer, which immediately surrendered. The Mattabe- 
sett then gave the ram a broadside, at about one hundred 
and fifty yards, then rounded to under her stern, and 
came up on the other side. Her shot either broke, or 
glanced ofif the ram's armor, without any effect. She had 
the muzzle knocked off of one of her two guns, by a shot 
from the ram, but continued to use it during the remainder 
of the action. 

The Sassacus came gallantly on, in like manner, deliv- 
ering her fire at the Albemarle. The latter then 
attempted to ram the Sassacus, but the latter crossed her 
bows, by superior speed. 

At this time the ram had partially turned, and exposed 
her side to the Sassacus, when the wooden double-ender 
rushed at her, under full steam, in hope of either crushing 
in her side, or of bearing her down until she should sink. 
The Sassacus struck the ironclad fairly, and received, at 
the same moment, a loo-pounder rifle shot, which went 
throuoh and throui^h her. She struck the Albemarle a 
heavy blow, careening her, and bearing her down till the 
water washed across her deck. 

The Sassacus kept her engines going, in the attempt 
to push the ram down, while many efforts were made to 
throw hand grenades down her deck hatch, and powder 
down her smoke stack, but without success, as there was 
a cap upon the stack. 

Soon the ram swung round, and as soon as her guns 
would bear, another loo-pound rifle shot went through 
the side of the Sassacus, through her coal bunker, and 



GUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 263 

crashed into her starboard boiler. Instandy the whole 
ship was filled with steam, which scalded and suffocated 
her crew. All her firemen were scalded, and one was 
killed; and twenty-one men were instantly placed hors 
de combat. She was forced to withdraw from action. 

The other gun-boats continued the fight, and the 
Miami endeavored to explode against the ram a torpedo 
which she carried. But the Albemarle was skillfully 
handled, and succeeded, each time, in avoiding the blow, 
iwo of the other gun-boats endeavored to foul the pro- 
peller of the ram by laying out seines in her track. 
Although the nets seemed all about her, she escaped 
them. An observer from the shore has likened \ki\i 
curious scene to a number of wasps attacking a large 
horny beetle. 

In fine, the Albemarle proved invulnerable to the guns 
of the gun-boats, even when discharged almost in contact 
with her sides. 

The action lasted for three hours, or until night came 
on. Everything that brave men could do to destroy the 
enemy it was their duty to encounter was done by the 
gun-boats, but the ironclad went back to Plymouth with- 
out serious damage, and without the loss of a man, after 
being the target, at short range, for more than two 
hundred shot from ii-inch and 9-inch guns, and more 
than one hundred shot from lOO-pounder rifles. 

The gun-boats, other than the Sassacus, were very much 
damaged, and it was plain that they were unfit to meet 
the Albemarle, however. ably handled or gallandy fought. 

The ram came out again on the 24th of May, but did 
not enter the Sound, apparendy fearing torpedoes. The 
next day a party left the Wyalusing in a boat, with two 
torpedoes, to endeavor to destroy the Albemarle, as she 
lay at Plymouth. 



264 cusniNc; and tiik alhkmakle. 

They carried the lorpedors across the swamps on a 
strelclicr, and then two of tlie i)arty swam across the 
river with a line, and liauled the torpedoes over to the 
Plymouth shore. These were tlien connected by a l)ridi(!, 
so that they should float down and strike on each side 
of the ram's l)ows. Unforlunalely, they were discovered, 
and the plan failed. 

Lines of lorpcdoc:s were then ])la(((l at the mouth of 
the Roanoke;, to destroy th(; ram if slu; should come 
down a<^ain, and as this ])rocee(linL; could not he kept 
secret, the ironclad did nol. a^aiu \(ntiu-(; down. She lay 
(piietly at Plymouth unlil ll>e latter part of ()ct(jl)er, a 
constant threat to our lleeL in the Sounds, and preventing 
any attempt to recapture the town. She was very 
sc^curely moored to a wharf, and a guard of soldiers was 
placed on hoard, in addition to her cicw. 

Iwery night fu'es wi:re made on shon?, to prevent the 
ap[)r()ach of an enemy unseen. More than this, she was 
snrroundc^d by large logs, moonxl some thirty fec;t from 
her hull, all round, to keej) off any boat which might 
approach with a torjiedo. \'\-(n\\ the mouth of the Roan- 
Kjkc. to where tlu^ Albemarle; lay is about eight miles, and 
:ho stream lh(>re about two hundred yards wide. 

TIk; banks were well pi( keted by the enemy. 

About a mile; Ix^low Plymoudi was the sunken wreck 
of the Soudifielcl, and about her were some schooners, 
which also forni(;d a picket-station in mid-stream. 

It seemed impossible for a boat to get up the river and 
not be discovered, and yet Lieutenant William P. Cush- 
ing, of the United States Navy, not only undertook to 
do so, but succeeded in dcrstroying this formidable craft, 
"the terror of the Sounds." 

Admiral Ammen, of the Navy, has given a capital sketch 



GUSHING AND THK AI^BEMARLE. 265 

of Ciishing-, in the United Service Magazine, from which 
wc shiill borrow {\-v.iAy. 

"William \\. Ciishint^'- was horn in Wisconsin, in Novem- 
ber, 1842, and entcrcMl ihe Naval Academy in i<S57, but 
resiornetl in March, 1861, entering*- the naval S(!rvice 
afloat, as an Actini^ Master's Mate;. His disposition and 
temperament would not p(>rmit him to remain at a naval 
school in time of war, as he would not have been able to 
give a single thoug^ht to theoretical study. 

"In OctolxT, i(S6r, he was restored to his rank as 
Midshipman, and on th(^ i6th of July following Ik- was, 
with many other young officers, matle a Lieutenant, owing 
to the exigencies of the service growing out of the civil 
war. 

"Henceforth, for nearly lhre(.' years, his career was 
singularly conspicuous in deeds of daring, in a service 
where a lack of gallantry woukl have brought disgrace. 
It is plain, therefore, that it was the sagacity of his plans 
and his Ix^ldness in carrying them out that distinguished 
him. 

"At the cl()s<i of tli(i war he was barely twenty-two and 
a half years of age, rather slightly built, about five feet 
in height, antl boyish looking. He had large, gray eyes, 
a [)rominent, acpiiline nose;, yellowish hair, worn quite 
long, and withal, a rather grave expression of counte- 
nance. When speaking his face would light up with a 
bright and jjlayful smile. A comrade; lik(;iic(I his springy, 
elastic step, high cheek bones and general physiognomy 
to that of an Indian. The first impression of a stranger 
who heard him speak, either of what he had done or ho[)ed 
to do, would be that he was a boaster — but widi those who 
knew him best there was no such idea ; his form of speech 
was a mere ex[)rc;ssion, frankly utten.-d, of what he had 
don*^ or what he intended to do." 



266 GUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 

The foregoing h Admiral Ammen's estimate of the 
man. To some of it the writer must dissent. He accom- 
panied Gushing on a short journey soon after the Albe- 
marle affair, while the country was still ringing with his 
brilliant exploit, and when steamboats, railroads and hotels 
were refusing to accept any money from either him or his 
chance companions ; and all sorts and conditions of men 
were being introduced to him, to have the honor of shaking 
his hand ; and yet a more simple, boy-like, unassuming 
manner no one placed in such a position ever had. 

He early received command of a small steamer, engaged 
in blockading, and would make expeditions in the inland 
waters, in his boat, sometimes lying concealed all day, but 
always having some definite object commensurate with 
the risks involved. He more than once obtained 
important Information in this way. 

Not only did he have frequent engagements, in his 
little vessel, with field batteries of the enemy, but was 
successful in destroying schooners with supplies, salt- 
works, and other things which tended to cripple his enemy. 

In the winter of 1864, when blockading the Cape Fear 
River, Gushing determined to pay a visit to Smithville, in 
a boat, with only six men. In entering the river he had 
to pass Fort Gaswell, and at Smithville, two miles above, 
he knew there was a battery of five guns, and a consider- 
able garrison. 

About eleven o clock at night he landed, one hundred 
yards above the battery, came into the village, and into 
a large house with a piazza, which was the headquarters 
of General Hebert. 

A Major and Gaptain, of the General's staff, were 
about going to bed, in a room on the piazza, when, hearing 
footsteps, and supposing his servant was there, the Major 
threw up a windoWj and a navy revolver was at once 



GUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 267 

thrust in his face, with a demand for surrender. He 
pushed the pistol aside, and escaped through the back 
door, calHng to his companion to follow, as the enemy 
were upon them. The latter failed to understand, and 
was taken prisoner by Gushing, and carried off. He 
pushed off down the river, knowing that an immediate 
alarm would be given. It was a beautiful moonlight 
night, but Gushing escaped unharmed. 

This audacious effort to capture General Hebert was 
characteristic of Gushing, and was only frustrated by the 
fact that the General happened to spend the night in 
Wilmington, instead of his own quarters. 

At the capture of Newbern, Gushing distinguished him- 
self, in command of a battery of navy howitzers. 

In landing in the marsh Gushing had lost his shoes, 
and, while pressing on, he encountered the servant of a 
Gaptain Johnson, of the army, who had a pair of spare 
boots slung over his shoulder. Gushing asked who was 
the owner of the boots, and said, "Tell the Gaptain that 
Lieutenant Gushing, of the Navy, was barefooted, and has 
borrowed them for the day," and then, in spite of the 
remonstrances of the servant, put on the boots in haste, 
and pursued his way to the fight. 

In the destruction of the Albemarle we see Gushing in 
another, and a truly heroic light. The newspaper cor- 
respondents had managed to make his task as difficult 
as possible, for they had, for several weeks, apprised the 
public, and of course the enemy, that Gushing was on his 
way from the North, with a torpedo-boat, to blow up the 
Albemarle. No method could have been taken to 
render the enemy more watchful, and the destruction of 
the ironclad impossible. 

We have already spoken of the "cordon" of logs, 
enclosing her as in a pen ; the extra guards and fires, the 



268 GUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 

howitzers ready loaded, and the pickets down the river. 
The enemy was very vigilant, and Cushing's approach 
was discovered. Yet we find him perfectly cool amidst 
a heavy fire from small arms and howitzers, standing 
forward in his launch, pushing his w^ay at full speed over 
the logs, and only intent upon lowering his torpedo and 
striking the enemy's vessel at the proper time. He did 
this most effectually, but, at the very moment of doing 
so, a shell from one of the heavy guns of the Albemarle 
struck the torpedo-boat, and she went down, swamped 
by the column of water and spray which rose high in the 
air when the torpedo exploded. 

Nothing could be more graphic or characteristic than 
Cushing's report of the affair, as follows: — 

"Albemarle Sound, N. C, 
October 30th, 1864. 

" Sir : — I have the honor to report that the Rebel iron- 
clad "Albemarle" is at the bottom of the Roanoke river. 
On the night of the 27th, having prepared my steam- 
launch, I proceeded up towards Plymouth with thirteen 
officers and men, partly volunteers from the squadron. 
The distance from the mouth of the river to the ram was 
about eight miles, the stream averaging in width some 
two hundred yards, and lined with the enemy's pickets. 

"A mile below the town was the wreck of the South- 
field, surrounded by some schooners, and it was under- 
stood that a gun was mounted there to command the 
bend. I therefore took one of the Shamrock's cutters in 
tow, with orders to cast off and board at that point, if we 
were hailed. 

"Our boat succeeded in passing the pickets, and even 
the Southfield, within twenty yards, without discovery, 
and we were not hailed until by the lookouts on the ram. 



GUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 269 

The cutter was then cast off, and ordered below, while 
we made for our enemy under a full head of steam. The 
Rebels sprung their rattle, rang the bell, and commenced 
firing, at the same time repeating their hail, and seeming 
much confused. 

"The light of a fire ashore showed me the ironclad 
made fast to the wharf, with a pen of logs around her, 
about thirty feet from her side. 

"Passing her closely, we made a complete circle, so as 
to strike her fairly, and went into her, bows on. By this 
time the enemy's fire was very severe, but a dose of 
canister, at short range, served to moderate their zeal 
and disturb their aim. 

"Paymaster Swan, of the Otsego, was wounded near 
me, but how many more I know not. Three bullets 
struck my clothing, and the air seemed full of them. In a 
moment we had struck the logs just abreast of the quarter 
port, breasting them in some feet, and our bows resting 
on them. The torpedo-boom was then lowered, and by 
a vigorous pull I succeeded in diving the torpedo under 
the overhang, and exploding it, at the same time that the 
Albemarle's gun was fired. A shot seemed to go 
crashing through my boat, and a dense mass of v/ater 
rushed in from the torpedo, filling the launch, and com- 
pletely disabling her. 

"The enemy then continued his fire, at fifteen feet 
range, and demanded our surrender, which I twice 
refused, ordering the men to save themselves, and, 
removing my own coat and shoes, springing into the 
river, I swam with others into the middle of the stream, 
the Rebels failing to hit us. The most of our party were 
captured, some were drowned, and only one escaped 
besides myself, and he in another direction. Acting 
Master's Mate Woodman, of the 'Commodore Hull,' I 



270 GUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE 

met in the water half a mile below the town, and assisted 
him as best I could, but failed to get him ashore. 

Completely exhausted, I managed to reach the shore, 
but was too weak to crawl out of the water until just at 
daylight, when I managed to creep into the swamp, close 
to the fort. While hiding, a few feet from the path, two 
of the Albemarle's officers passed, and I judged, from their 
conversation, that the ship was destroyed. 

"Some hours' travelling in the swamp served to bring 
me out well below the town, when I sent a negro in to 
gain information, and found that the ram was truly sunk. 
Proceeding to another swamp I came to a creek, and 
captured a skiff belonging to a picket of the enemy, and 
with this, by eleven o'clock the next night, had made my 
way out to the ' Valley City.' 

"Acting Master's Mate William L. Howarth, of the 
'Monticello,' showed, as usual, conspicuous bravery. He 
is the same officer who has been with me twice in 
Wilmington harbor. I trust he may be promoted when 
exchanged, as well as Acting Third Assistant Engineer 
Stotesbury, who, being for the first time under fire, handled 
his engine promptly and with coolness. 

" All the officers and men behaved in the most gallant 
manner. I will furnish their names to the Department 
as soon as they can be procured. 

" The cutter of the Shamrock boarded the Southfield, 
but found no gun. Four prisoners were taken there. 
The ram is now completely submerged, and the enemy 
have sunk three schooners in the river, to obstruct the 
passage of our ships. I desire to call the attention of 
the Admiral and Depa.rtment to the spirit manifested by 
the sailors on the ships in these Sounds. But few men 
were wanted, but all hands were eacjer to ijo into action, 
many offering their chosen shipmates a month's pay to 



GUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 271 

resign In their favor. I am, sir, very respectfully, your 
obedient servant, W. B. Gushing, 

Lieutenant, U. S. JV," 
" Rear-Admiral D. D. Porter, 
" Commanding N. A. Squadron. 

" The name of the man who escaped is William Hoft' 
man, seaman on the ' Chicopee.' He did his duty well, 
and deserves a medal of honor. 

'* Respectfully, W. B. Gushing, U. S. N." 

Gushing, for this daring piece of service, was himself 
advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-Gommander. 

Such men are never mere imitators, and his unvarying 
success in whatever he undertook was due to his clever 
planning and admirable execution. Attempts by those 
of inferior qualities in such respects would end in their 
capture or death. 

Admiral Ammen goes on to say, in summing up the 
character of Gushing, " that, notwithstanding his extra- 
ordinary qualities, he perhaps lacked that attention to the 
practical and laborious details of his profession without 
which no officer can attain eminence or usefulness, even, 
in the higher grades. His ability to comprehend was 
undoubtedly of a high order, but possibly a deficient 
training when a mere youth left him apparently averse to 
acquiring the practical details of his profession. 

"The fact is, that Gushing had such pre-eminent quali 
ties, that those who appreciated him felt a certain chagrin 
or disappointment that he did not seem to possess those 
ordinary qualities through which he could acquire the 
knowledge necessary to extraordinary success as the 
leader of large forces. 

"Gushing's life in war was active and heroic in the 
extreme ; in peace he seemed to suffer, as it were, from 



272 GUSHING AND THE ALBEMARLE. 

inanity, or more properly speaking, from the apparent 
lack or absence of a strong purpose. 

" After the close of the war he was for some two years 
Executive Officer of the ' Lancaster,' a position which 
required close attention and study, to fulfill its duties in 
the best manner, 

"Afterwards he served three years in command of the 
'Maumee,' on the Asiatic station. He was promoted, in 
the regular order of vacancies, to Commander, January 31, 
1872, and soon after was ordered to the command of the 
'Wyoming,' on the home station, and was relieved at the 
end of a year, the vessel being put out of commission. 

**In the spring of 1874 he was ordered to the Wash- 
ington Navy Yard, and the following August was detached, 
at his request. He then seemed in impaired health, and 
expressed a desire to go South ; after the lapse of a few 
days he showed signs of insanity, and was removed to 
the Government Hospital, where he died, December 17, 
1874, at the age of thirty- two years and thirteen days. 

"His becoming insane was a great regret and surprise 
to his many friends and admirers, in and out of the naval 
service ; it was, however, a consolation for them to know 
that it was not the result of bad habits or of causes within 
his control. His misfortune, and that of the naval service 
to which he belonged, was seemingly a lack of rigid, early 
training, necessary to healthful thought in ordinary times, 
and to a continued development of those points in naval 
education which are so useful in peace, and so essential 
to success in the higher grades, whatever nature may have 
done to fit the man for action. 

" There are few Cushings in the histories of navies; 
they can have no successful imitators ; they pass away, as 
it were, before they reach their desdned goal, regretted 
and admired." 



FORT FISHER. DECEMBER, 1864 JANUARY, 
1865. 




FTER the fall of the forts at Mobiie, V^ il 
mington alone remained a port v/hcn: 
blockade-runners could enter and escape 
again, with their return cargoes. Having 
two entrances, one north of Cape Fear, 
at New Inlet, shoal and tortuous, and 
commanded by the extensive fortifications 
on Federal Point, called Fort Fisher, and 
the other the main channel of the Cape Fear River, and 
these two entrances requiring about sixty miles of blockade, 
it was almost impossible to prevent swift vessels from 
running in with important supplies for the Confederate 
Army, and from getting to sea again, with cotton. 

Sherman was now preparing for his march to the sea, 
which, if successful, would insure the fall of Charleston 
and Savannah, without further effort from the Navy. 

Grant was beleaguering Lee, at Petersburg and Rich- 
mond, and the latter was dependent upon Wilmino-ton for 
many indispensable articles brought into that port, for his 
army, by the English blockade-runners. Many of these 
had been captured or destroyed, but the temptadon was 
great to tiy again, and greedy and desperate men, with fast 
steamers, took their lives in their hands, and by audacity 
and good seamanship, favored by a dark night, often 
succeeded. 



274 FORT FISHER, 

It was certain that the principal Confederate Army 
remaining could not long- be kept in the field if important 
articles not produced in the Confederacy could not be 
continuously imported from England. Indeed, after the 
capture of Fort Fisher, a telegram from Lee was found 
there, which declared that he could not hold Richmond if 
Fort Fisher should be captured. 

While Grant, therefore, was ready to follow Lee, either 
north or south, and Sherman was about making his bold 
manoeuvre, and the captured harbors were closely held, 
and the lesser ports and coasts closely watched, it seemed 
more than ever necessary to capture Wilmington ; and to 
do this, Fort Fisher must be taken. 

The writer participated in both attacks upon Fort 
Fisher, and has contributed a paper to the United Sei'vice 
Magazine upon the operations there ; but for the sake of 
conciseness, will follow the official report, and the account 
of Boynton, adding some reminiscences. 

In September, 1S64, the Navy Department received 
assurances from the Secretary of War, that the necessary 
land force for the reduction of Fort Fisher and the other. 
Wilmington forts would be supplied in due season, and 
preparations for the naval part of the expc^ditlon were 
begun at once. ' A very powerful naval force was assem- 
bled in Hampton Roads, and the command offered to 
Admiral Farragut. But the Admiral's health had been 
much impaired by the anxieties, and exposures, and 
constant strain upon his nervous system, in consequence 
of his service of two years in a climate not very favorable 
to health. He, therefore, declined the command, to the 
great regret of the public, as well as the Navy Department. 

The Secretary of the Navy then naturally turned to 
Admiral Porter, who had shown, in the very trying service 
on the Western rivers, great energy and skill. He 



FORT FISHER. 2<0 

accepted, with alacrity, and was at once put in com- 
mand of the largest fleet which ever sailed under the 
American flag. 

Causes into which it is now not worth while to enter 
delayed the expedition, as the co-operating land force was 
not at once forthcoming, and a bombarding force of thirty- 
seven vessels, and a reserve squadron of nineteen, lay in 
Hampton Roads, awaiting orders to proceed. 

The season was almost over when fine weather might 
be expected, and the time was near when those storms 
which had given the name to Cape Fear might be expected 
in that locality. Before the war it was considered fool- 
hardy to dally in that vicinity at all, and yet our blockaders 
staid there, night and day, winter and summer, shine or 
storm, for nearly four years, and even our monitors laid 
out gales there, at anchor, with the whole Atlantic ocean 
to the eastward of them. 

The Secretary of the Navy became anxious at the delay 
in the movements of the military part of the expedition, 
and addressed a letter to President Lincoln, which was as 
follows : — 

"Navy Department, 

October 28th, 1864. 

"Sir: — You are aware that, owing to shoal water at 
the mouth of the Cape Fear River, a purely naval attack 
cannot be undertaken against Wilmington. Had there 
been water enough for our broadside ships, of the Hart- 
ford class, the naval attacks of New Orleans, Mobile, and 
Port Royal would have been repeated there. I have, as 
you are aware, often pressed upon the War Department 
the importance of capturing Wilmington, and urged upon 
the Military authorities the necessity of undertaking a 
joint operation against the defences of Cape Fear River ; 
but until recently there never seems to have been a period 



276 FORT FISHER. 

when the Department was In a condition to entertain the 

subject. 

"Two months ago it was arranged that an attack should 
be made on the i st of October, but subsequently post- 
poned to the 15th. and the naval force has been ready 
since the 15th instant, in accordance with that agreement. 
One hundred and fifty vessels of war now form the North 
Atlantic Squadron. The command, first offered to Rear- 
Admiral Farragut, but declined by him, has been given 
to Rear-Admiral Porter. 

"Every other squadron has been depleted, and vessels 
detached from other duty to strengthen this expedition. 
The vessels are concentrated at Hampton Roads and 
Beaufort, where they remain, an immense force lying idle, 
awaiting the movements of the army. The detention of 
so many vessels from blockade and cruising duty Is a most 
serious injury to the public service; and if the expedition 
cannot go forward for want of troops, I desire to be 
notified, so that the ships may be relieved and dispersed 
for other service. 

"The Importance of closing Wilmington Is so well 
understood by you that I refrain from presenting any new 
arguments. I am aware of the anxiety of yourself, and 
of the disposition of the War Department to render all 
the aid in its power. The cause of the delay is not from 
the want of a proper conception of the importance of the 
subject; but the season for naval coast operations will 
soon be gone. 

"General Bragg has been sent from Richmond to Wil- 
mington, to prepare for the attack; and the autumn 
weather, so favorable for such an expedition, is fast 
passing away. The public expect this attack, and the 
country will be distressed if it be not made. To pro- 
crastinate much longer will be to peril its success. 



FORT FISMER. 279 

*'0f the obstacles which delay or prevent military 
co-operation at once I cannot judge; but the delay is 
becoming exceedingly embarrassing to this Department, 
and the importance of having the military authorities 
impressed with the necessity of speedy action has 
prompted this communication to you. 

" I have the honor to be, etc., etc., 
The President. "Gideon Welles." 

At length the War Department supplied the much 
needed land force. General Butler was placed in com- 
mand of it, and General Weitzel, an engmeer officer, was 
sent with him. 

The long delay had enabled the enemy to gain informa- 
tion of the object of all this preparation, and they placed 
additional troops within supporting distance of the forts. 

Fort Fisher is situated on a neck of land between the 
ocean and the Cape Fear River, called Federal Point. 
The plan was to land the troops some distance above the 
fort, and intrench across the Point to Cape Fear River, 
so as to prevent reinforcements being sent from Wilming- 
ton, and then to attack both by land and water. 

The fort and its connected batteries mounted about 
seventy-five guns, while the armament of all the works 
erected for the purpose of guarding the approaches to 
Wilmington was about one hundred and sixty guns, 
many of them of the largest calibre theri used in forts. 
Among them were some 150-pounder Armstrongs. 
Admiral Porter, who had been at Sebastopoi, says, in an 
official report, "that Fort Fisher was much stronger than 
the famous Malakoff" 

A novel idea was to be carried out in this attack, which 
was popularly attributed to General Buder. 

A vessel with a very large quantity of powder on 



280 FORT FISHER. 

board was arra^nged as a huge torpedo, to be carried in 
as close as possible to the fort, and then exploded. It 
was supposed that It would level the walls, explode the 
maeazine, and kill or stun the ofarrison. 

The explosion produced no result of importance, as we 
shall see hereafter. 

The attack was decided upon for the 24th of December, 
although General Butler had not arrived with his troops. 
The larger vessels of the fleet and the ironclads had 
anchored twenty miles east of New Inlet, literally at sea, 
and in a position where it would have been thought fool- 
hardy, In peace times, to have remained at that season. 
Here they rode out some heavy weather, the monitors, at 
times, being completely submerged by the huge seas, with 
only the tops of the smoke-stacks and turrets visible. 

The powder boat was a purchased gun-boat, called the 
Louisiana. She had about two hundred tons of powdtr 
on board, and was commanded by Commander A. C 
Rhind. The vessel was painted lead color, and she 
had a false smoke-stack erected abaft the real one, and 
in general appearance and color resembled the ordinary 
blockade-runners. She was sent in on the night ot the 
23d, or rather, at two o'clock on the morning of the 24th. 
So little was the explosion considered an act of war by 
the garrison that they supposed it a blockade-runner 
which had been chased ashore and blown up, to prevent 
her from falling into the blockaders' hands. 

The attacking fleet carried nearly five hundred guns. 
,\mong these were some of the largest guns then in use. 
The three monitors mounted 1 5-inch guns ; the battery 
of the New Ironsides was of 11 -inch guns; there were 
many ii-inch guns, and 100- and 150-pounder Parrott 
rifles on board the smaller vessels while the heavy 
frigates^ Minnesota, Wabash and Colorado, mounted each 



FORT FISHER. 281 

forty 9-inch guns. No such armament had ever been 
brought to bear upon a fort ; and probably no fort was 
better able to resist it, for It was an immense bank of 
earth, with the guns far apart, and huge traverses of earth 
built up between them. This arrangement had a double 
advantage ; for it was more difficult to reduce the work than 
if the guns had been contained in a smaller space, while 
their fire, thus distributed, was more effective against ships. 

But, extensive and formidable as these great earthworks 
were, they were overmatched by the guns afloat. No 
men could stand to guns, and no guns could long con- 
tinue serviceable, under such a storm of shot and shell as 
was poured upon them. 

On the 24th of December, early in the morning, the 
ships stood in, the grim and ponderous Ironsides leading 
the way, followed by the monitors. They took position 
about three-quarters of a mile from the fort, opening fire 
as soon as in station. Then came the great frigates, 
sloops and gun-boats, and all opened a most rapid and 
terrible fire. 

In about an hour the fort was silenced, the grarrison 
being driven to cover. There were one or two explosionf 
of magazines, and some buildings were set on fire. Un- 
fortunately, during this day no less than six of the 100- 
pounder rifles burst, killing and wounding more men than 
the guns of the enemy, and destroying confidence In these 
pieces, which had hitherto done good work, and had been, 
rather favorites. The ships sustained very litde damage. 

On the next day, Christmas, the transports arrived v/Ith 
the troops, and the latter were landed about five miles 
above the fort, under cover of the gun-boats, while the 
ironclads and other vessels renewed their fire upon the 
fort, but more deliberately than the day before. General 
Weitzel reconnoitred the fort, and some soldiers actually 



282 FORT FISHER. 

entered a part of it, but the General reported a successful 
assault impracticable, and the troops were re-embarked. 
The Navy was naturally indignant at this, but there was 
no help for it. The commentary upon the opinion of the 
Engineer is that the fort was taken by assault, a fortnight 
afterwards. 

On December 29th, the Secretary of the Navy, after 
consultation with the President, sent a telegram to 
General Grant, at Petersburof, stating^ his belief that 
the works could be taken by a suitable land force, to 
co-operate with the Navy, and asking for the necessary 
troops. General Grant sent about eight thousand men, 
under General Terry, and they reached the neighborhood 
of Fort Fisher on January 13th. 

In the meantime the fleet had ridden out some very bad 
weather and one severe southeast gale, most of the large 
vessels lying in the bight under Cape Lookout. 

On January 12th the fleet, with the transports with 
troops in close company, sailed again for New Inlet, all 
being in fair fighting condition, and not damaged or 
dispersed by the gale, as the enemy had hoped. 

On the 13th the fleet was pounding away at the 
earthworks again, the Ironsides being within one thousand 
yards of the northeast angle, and the monitors much 
closer, as they drew less water. The wind was off shore, 
and light, and the water smooth, or they could not have 
gone in so close, there being but a few inches of water 
under the keels of the ironclads. The fire was continued 
all that day, and at intervals during the night. 

The fire of the ironclads was directed, during the whole 
of the second bombardment, at the land face of the main 
fort, where the assault by the troops was to be made; 
and although they were nearly concealed by the high 
traverses, which made an angle with the line of fire, it 



FORT FISHER. 283 

was seen that many guns were struck and disabled, but 
the full extent of the damage was not known till after 
the surrender. Then it was found that every gun on 
that face of the fort had been disabled, principally by the 
heavy shot and shell of the ironclads, which lay so near 
the fort, and fired deliberately, and in perfect security. 

It was the northeastern face which was to be assaulted 
by the troops of General Terry. The sea front had been 
under the fire of the wooden ships, which had to lie further 
off, and their fire was less effective, and the face less 
injured. It was decided to assault this face with the 
sailors and marines of the fleet. There were seventeen 
guns on the land face, with immense hills for traverses, 
extending a third of a mile. The other face, that to 
be assaulted by the sailors and marines, was about on 3 
mile in length, terminating on the right flank in a mound 
fifty-three feet high, mounted w^ith two very heavy guns. 

The arrangement of guns and traverses was such that, 
in an assault, each would have to be taken separately. 

On the morning of the 15th the ships went once more 
into position, and fired rapidly. The soldiers and sailors 
made arrangements for the assault ; throwing up breast- 
works and rifle-pits towards the fort. From 1 1 a. m. to 
about half-past two, a tremendous fire was kept up, and 
the heavy embankments crumbled under the shot and 
shell, while more guns were disabled. 

Sdll, the garrison, of about 2300 men, lay sheltered in 
their bomb-proofs, ready' to come out and repel the 
assault as soon as the fire of the fleet should cease. 

At half-past two the naval column was ready to advance, 
and the fire from the fleet, at a given signal, suddenly 
ceased, the quiet seeming quite unnatural after the con- 
tinuous roar of artillery. 

^^"^ naival column then moved along the beach, to as- 



284 FORT FISHER. 

sault the sea-face of the main work. This was defended by 
palisades, as was the land face, and was about forty feet 
high, and very steep — difficult for an armed man to climb. 

As the fire from the fleet ceased, the garrison came out 
of the bomb-proofs, and, manning the parapet of the sea- 
face, began to shoot down the assaulting sailors and 
marines. Loaded pieces were handed up to those on the 
parapet, so the fire was very rapid. The beach was 
soon strewn with dead and wounded, many staggering 
into the water and falling there. 

A few of the men, with many of the officers, reached 
the foot of the mound, but they could get no further, and 
the bulk of the naval force retreated down the beach 
again, entirely exposed, and losing heavily from the 
deliberate musketry fire of the garrison. Those who had 
reached a place of partial shelter, about the foot of the 
mound, were obliged to remain there until approaching 
darkness and hard fighting on the other face gave them 
an opportunity to get away. The loss in this attempted 
assault was very heavy, twenty-one officers of the navy 
having been killed or wounded, with a proportionate 
number of sailors and marines. 

The lives lost were not utterly thrown away, however, 
for the naval attack made a diversion, distracting atten- 
tion from the movements of the troops. 

Soon after the naval advance, and about the time that 
it was evident that it had failed, the veteran troops from 
the James River assaulted, with the determination, steadi- 
ness and dash which they had learned at Petersburg, 
Cold Harbor, Spottsylvania, and a dozen other scenes 
of hard fighting. The guns on the land face were all 
disabled, but there was a howitzer fire from a sally-port, 
which did much damage, although it did not stay the 
advance of those weil-dressed line'^ an_ instant. Reaching 



FORT FISHER. 285 

the foot of the lofty earthworks, the pioneers' axes soon 
cleared away the palisade, and the troops entered the two 
western traverses. An entirely novel and fierce combat 
now took place, as each mound was captured in turn. 

For more than five hours this hand-to-hand struggle, 
a fight to the death, went on in those traverses. There 
was nothing exactly like it during the whole war. The 
Ironsides fired into the traverses ahead of our troops until 
this was rendered, by the darkness, as dangerous to friend 
as foe. Night came, and still the struggle went on. 
Shouts and yells, shrieks and groans, musket-shot and 
clash of bayonet, with the flash of small arms, marked the 
centre of the fight. Thus traverse after traverse was 
won, until about ten o'clock at night the last one, at the 
mound, was taken ; then was heard a tremendous peal of 
cheers, and the garrison poured, pell-mell, down to Federal 
Point. Here they laid down their arms and surrendered. 
The fact was at once telegraphed to the fleet, by signal 
lanterns, and round after round of hearty cheers went up 
from every ship. 

The " impregnable " Fort Fisher was taken. The Cape 
Fear River, the great port of the blockade runners, was 
closed, and the Confederacy at last completely isolated. 

The next morning the light-draught vessels at once 
beean to work in over the New Inlet Bar, and for some 
days they were busy in capturing forts, and in sweeping 
the Channel for torpedoes, and removing obstructions. 

About seven o'clock in the morning there was a 
tremendous explosion within the Fort, which threw masses 
of earth and timber, and bodies of men, high into the air; 
while a dense balloon-shaped cloud of powder smoke and 
dust hung in the air for a long time. 

It was the main magazine which had blown up. It was 
never known how it happened. Many officers and :*ia 



286 FORT FISHER. 

men oi the fleet, as well as soldiers, lost their lives by 
this explosion. 

Upon landing from the men-of-war, to see what this 
celebrated place might be like, we met, in the first place, 
boats conveying* the wounded of the Navy to the Hos- 
pital ship, while upon the beach parties were collecting 
for burial those who had been killed, and ranging them in 
rows. This beach, as well as the whole of the land front 
of the fort, was strewn with an Immense number of frag- 
ments of shell, muskets, musket-balls, bayonets, cartridge 
boxes and belts, articles of clothing and dead bodies. 

As we approached the land face, we began to find the 
bodies of soldiers, instead of those of sailors, lying in the 
strangest attitudes, just as they happened to be when the 
death bullet struck them. The faces of some still showed 
the deadly purpose of battle, while others were as peace- 
ful as If they had died In their beds. Many of these 
bodies had rolled down the steep earthwork after being 
shot, and were lying against the palisades, covered with 
dust and powder grime. Upon gaining a point of view 
from one of the traverses, one was struck by the great 
extent of the fort. Before us lay the huge smoking 
crater caused by the morning's explosion, while fatigue 
parties of soldiers were engaged in collecting the wounded 
and the dead, and in piling up, in great stacks, the small 
arms of the captured garrison, as well as those of our 
own dead and wounded. Peeping Into the bomb-proofs, 
which were full of dead, and filthy beyond description, 
from long occupation during the bombardment, the next 
sight was the guns. These were, many of them, not only 
dismounted, but partially burled In the earth and sand, by 
the terrible explosions of the eleven- and fifteen-Inch 
shells. In many cases the gun's crew were buried with 
them, as an occasional hand or foot, peeping out, testified 



FORT FISHER. 287 

At the northeastern angle of the fort, in two huge 
embrasures, were two very heavy guns, a 68-pounder, 
and an 8-inch Blakeley rifle, both of English make. These 
two guns had fired principally at the ironclads, and the 
latter had returned the compliment. Our fire often caused 
the gunners to leave them, but they generally returned 
at the first slacking of the fire. Just before the assault. 
one of them had the carriage disabled, and it was now 
slewed round with its muzzle to the westward. 

At Battery No. 4 was found an Armstrong 1 50-pounder, 
marked with the "broad arrow," and mounted on an 
elegantly made and polished carriage, with Sir Wm. 
Armstrong's name on the trunnion of the gun, in full. 
This piece was said to have been presented to the Con- 
federacy by some English admirers. But Armstrong 
guns, of less calibre, were found in all the fortifications 
about Cape Fear. 

These latter works were evacuated by the Confederates 
in great consternation and hurry ; in some instances they 
only spiked very fine guns. 

Fort Anderson, on the right bank, held our flotilla for 
some time. Just abreast of it were two lines of torpedoes, 
both floating and sunken, and this fort was not evacuated 
until after a heavy bombardment of thirteen hours, and 
an expenditure of about five thousand shell. 

It was very natural for the Confederates to suppose 
that Fort Fisher would come off victoriously from the 
second attack, as she was much better garrisoned and 
armed, and prepared in every way, than at the time of 
the first attack, in December. 

The success in the second attack was considered to be 
due to the change in the commanding officers ; the troops 
who carried the muskets were the same. 

All the forts in the river were of the most approved 



288 FORT FISHER. 

and careful construction, and they contained, in all, about 
1 70 heavy guns ; while lines of piles, and torpedoes to 
be fired by electricity, filled the approaches to them. 

It was remarked by an officer high in authority, that 
the engineers who built such works, at the expense of so 
much time and labor, must have had an abiding faith in 
the Confederacy. Fort Fisher was nearly four years in 
course of construction. 

After the capture of the forts the armed cruiser 
Chickamauga, which had already created such havoc 
among our coasters, and which was ready for sea again, 
and watching an opportunity to slip out, was run high up 
the river, and, in a small creek, destroyed by her own crew 

Even in the most eventful and tragical occurrences 
there are some humorous sides. 

After the capture some fine blockade-running steamers 
came into Smithville, quite ignorant of the change in 
affairs, as they always arrived ''in the dark of the moon." 
Lights were shown from the regular stations, to guide 
them in, and when they anchored they were quietly taken 
possession of 

They were generally from Bermuda, and loaded with 
arms, blankets, shoes and medicines for the Confederate 
army. On board one of them were found some English 
army officers, who had come over from Bermuda on a 
'• lark," and to try what blockade-running was like. When 
the vessel was boarded these gentry were found at supper, 
with champagne opened, to toast their successful run 
and their escape from serious damage from some shot 
which had struck the vessel as she was passing the outside 
blockaders. Their disgust may be imagined at being 
shipped to New York, in confinement, and thence back to 
Bermuda, by the first opportunity. 



DEEDS OF VALOR ON THE SEAS. 

WV CAPTAIN H. D. SMITH, U. S. R. S,, AND OTHERS. 

Captain Silas Talbot, the Soldier-Sailor. 




T one period of our naval history none 
connected with it enjoyed a higher repu- 
tation for patriotic and headlong valor 
than Captain Silas Talbot, one of the 
earliest commanders of that renowned 
frigate Old Ironsides. 

He came naturally by his adventurous 
disposition and high standard of courage. 
He was a lineal descendant of that Richard de Talbot 
who witnessed the grant that Walter Gifford, Earl of 
Buckingham, made to the monks of Cerasir, in the reio^n 
of William the Conqueror. The earldom of Shrewsbury 
was bestowed, in the fifteenth century, upon John Talbot 
for his skill and prowess in war. It is remarkable that 
one of his ancestors was the antagonist of the Maid of 
Orleans, and another had the custody of Mary Queen of 
Scots. 

Silas Talbot was left an orphan at 1 2 years of age, 
at the town of Dighton, and went to sea as a cabin boy. 
He also learned the trade of a stonemason, acquired 
property, and married at the age of 21. The first notes 
of the Revolution found Talbot with his companions drill- 
ing under the guidance of an old Scotch drum-major. 
Finding an opportunity to join the Amercian camp near 
19 (289;> 



290 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

Boston, he 'accompanied the army to New York, when 
his knowledge of nautical matters obtained for him the 
command of a fireship. Three of the enemy's ships were 
anchored near the mouth of the Hudson, the largest 
being the Asia, of sixty-four guns. 

Singling this vessel out as the object of his attack, 
Talbot, at 2 o'clock in the morning, dropped down with 
the tide, and threw his grappling irons on board as the 
Asia opened fire. In an instant the flames of the fire- 
ship were leaping above the lower yards of the huge 
vessel, and Talbot, who had lingered on board until the 
last moment, suffered terribly from the injuries received. 
His skin was blistered from head to foot, his dress almost 
entirely destroyed, and his eyesight for the time de- 
stroyed. His companions succeeded in carrying him clear 
in a fast-pulling boat, finding shelter in a poor cabin, 
where medical aid was at last procured for the sufferer. 
Meanwhile the Asia, by strenuous efforts, had cleared 
herself from the blazing craft, and, badly injured, had 
dropped down the river. 

For this service, Congress, on October 10, 1777, passed 
a resolution of thanks, promoting him to the rank of 
Major, and recommending him to Gen. Washington for 
" employment agreeable to his rank," and he shordy after 
found an opportunity to gain further distinction and a 
severe wound in the hip, in an attack on the enemy. 
Under Gen. Sullivan he gathered eighty-six flatboats for 
transportation of the army on Long Island, which was 
instrumental in preventing disaster when a retreat was 
ordered. 

The English, while in possession of Newport, moored 
a stout vessel off the mouth of the Seconset River, pro- 
viding her with twelve 8-pounders and ten swivels. 
Strong boarding nettings were attached, while a crew of 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 291 

forty-five men under Lieut. Dunlap, of the Royal Navy, 
commanded the craft, which had been named the Pigot. 

Upon this vessel Maj. Talbot had his eye for some 
time, but could obtain no suitable means of getting a 
party afloat. He finally gained possession of a sloop, 
equipped her with two 3-pounders, manned by sixty men. 
On a dark and foggy night Talbot embarked with his men, 
allowing the old sloop to drift under bare poles, until the 
loom of the great boat was seen through the fog. Down 
swept the coasting sloop ; the sentinels hailed, but before 
one of the Pigot's guns could be used the jibboom of the 
opposing craft had torn its way through the boarding 
nettings, affording an opportunity for the attacking party 
to board, sword in hand. The vessel was quickly carried, 
the commander fighting desperately, en dishabille, and 
when compelled' to surrender wept over his miserable 
diso-race. Not a man had been lost in this affair, and the 

o 

prize was carried safely into Stonington. 

For this exploit Talbot received a handsome letter 
from Henry Laurens, President of Congress, and was 
promoted to a Lieutenant-Colonelcy in the army. The 
Assembly of his native State presented him with a sword, 
while the British termed him, " One of the greatest arch- 
rebels in nature." 

In 1779 he was commissioned a Captain in the navy, 
but with no national vessel for him to command. He 
was instructed to arm a naval force sufficient to protect 
the coast from Long Island to Nantucket. Congress was 
too poor to assist him, and only by great efforts was he 
able to fit out the prize Pigot and a sloop called the 
Argo. Humble as this craft was, Talbot assumed com- 
mand without a moment's hesitation and proved what a 
man of valor and determination could achieve with 
meagre means. The sloop was an old-fashioned craft 



292 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

from Albany, square, wide stern, bluff bow, and steered 
with a tiller. Her battery consisted of ten and afterward 
twelve euns, two of which were mounted in the cabin. 
With a crew of sixty, few of whom were seamen or had 
seen service, the gallant Captain sailed from Providence 
on a cruise in May, 1779. 

Exercising and drilling his men, he soon had them in 
fair shape, enabling him to capture one vessel of twelve 
guns and two letter-of-marque brigs from the West 
Indies. The prizes, with their cargoes, were greatly 
needed by the authorities, while the successes attending 
the efforts of the men greatly increased their confidence. 

There was a Tory privateer of fourteen guns called the 
King George, commanded by a Capt. Hazard, manned 
by eighty men, whose depredations along the coast had 
made the craft a terror to the inhabitants. For a meet- 
ing with this craft Capt. Talbot ardently longed, but was 
baffled for quite a while. But fortune one clear day 
smiled upon the Continental craft, the lookout espying 
the Kinof Georofe about 100 miles off shore from Longr 
Island. The Argo ran the enemy aboard, clearing her 
deck with one raking broadside, driving her crew below 
hatches, and capturing the privateer without the loss of a 
man. 

Shortly after the sloop met a large armed West India- 
man, who fought desperately for over four hours. Tal- 
bot had the skirts of his coat shot away, losing a number 
of men by the well-directed fire of the enemy, and only 
succeeded in making his antagonist strike when his main- 
mast went by the board. 

The career of the sloop was brought to an abrupt ter- 
mination by the owners' demanding her return, but not 
before Capt. Talbot had secured six good prizes and 300 
prisoners. 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 293 

Capt. Talbot was now informed by Congress that "the 
government had every desire to give him a respectable 
command, but absolutely lacked the means to do it." 
Succeeding to the command of a private armed ship, 
Talbot made but one prize, when he found himself one 
morning in the midst of a large fleet of English men-of- 
war. Resistance was impossible, and as a prisoner the 
Captain was transferred to the notorious Jersey prison 
ship, from which he was in time removed to the jail in 
New York, ruled by the cruel and infamous Cunningham. 

In November, 1780, in company with seventy other 
prisoners, they were marched to the ship Yarmouth, 
driven into the hold, destitute of clothing and bedding, 
making the passage to England amid such suffering and 
misery that beggars description. Talbot seemed to bear 
a charmed life, passing unscathed through the horrors 
and death about him, and was finally placed in the Dart- 
moor prison, out of which he made a daring attempt to 
escape, and was confined in a dungeon forty days as pun- 
ishment. On three occasions he incurred the same pen- 
alty for similar attempts, meeting his disappointments 
and hardships with characteristic fortitude and courage. 

Talbot gained his liberty through exchange for a Brit- 
ish officer in France, finding himself destitute and half- 
naked in a foreip-n land. He landed at Cherbouro- in 
December, 1781, after having been a prisoner for fifteen 
months. At Paris Capt. Talbot was assisted by Franklin 
and sailed for home in a brig, but fifteen days only after 
leaving port she was captured by the Jupiter, an English 
privateer. But Talbot was treated with kindness and 
courtesy by the captain, who transferred him to a brig 
they encountered on her way from Lisbon to New York. 

He now retired to a farm, where he remained with his 
family until 1794. He had served his country faithfully, 



294 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

both on land and water, bearing on his person more or 
less of British lead, which he carried to his grave. He 
had been specially mentioned by Congress on several 
occasions, and occupied a high place in the estimadon 
of Washington and the principal officers of the Conti- 
nental army. But with the dawn of peace he was 
allowed to remain in his place of retirement without 
further acknowledo^ment from the orovernment he had 
served so well. 

In 1794, when Congress enacted a law to enlarge the 
naval force in order to check the depredations of the 
Algerians, among the six experienced officers selected to 
command the frigates was Capt. Talbot. 

After hostilities with France had commenced, one of 
the squadrons in the West Indies was placed under his 
command, and he flew a broad pennant on board Old 
Ironsides in 1799, on the St. Domingo station. Isaac 
Hull, as First Lieutenant, was Captain of the frigate, and 
other officers served under Talbot's conimand who after- 
ward became famous on the rolls of fame. 

It was while Old Ironsides had Talbot for a com- 
mander that she captured her first prize. This vessel 
had been the British packet Sandwich, and only waited 
to complete a cargo of coffee to make a run for France. 
Capt. Talbot resolved to cut her out, and a force of sea- 
men and marines were placed on board an American 
sloop and the command given to the gallant Hull. The 
Sandwich was lying with her broadside bearing on the 
channel, with a battery to protect her. But so well was 
the movements of the sloop conducted that the Sandwich 
was carried without the loss of a man. At the same 
time Capt. Cormick landed with the marines and spiked 
the guns of the battery. 

The Sandwich was stripped to a girtline, with all the 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 



297 



gear stowed below; but before sunset she had royal 
yards across, her guns sealed, and the prize crew mus- 
tered at the guns. Soon after she was under way, beat 
out of the harbor and joined the frigate. Hull gained 
great credit for the skill with which he had carried out 
the object of the expedition, and at the time the affair 
made quite a sensation among the various cruisers on 
the West India station. 

Talbot was jealous of his rank and the dignity attached 
to his station in the service. His courage, ability, and 
devotion to his country were all beyond question. A 
question arose relative to the seniority of rank between 
himself and Commodore Truxton, in which the Secretary 
of the Navy gave the preference to Truxton. 

This led the old veteran to tender his resiornation and 

o 

enjoy the fairly earned repose of honorable age. Presi- 
dent John Adams wrote to Talbot requesting him to 
remain in the service, but the old sailor replied, " Neither 
my honor nor reputation would permit me to be com- 
manded by Capt. Truxton, because he was, in fact, a 
junior officer/' 

Commodore Talbot, in withdrawing from the service, 
took with him his two sons, who were following in their 
father's footsteps, and, purchasing land for them in 
Kentucky, alternated between New York and the home 
established by his sons. 

He was thirteen times wounded and carried five bullets 
in his body. In his intercourse with others, his hospi- 
tality and social duties, he carried himself with rare 
dignity and grace, and was one of the finest specimens 
of a self-made American officer the country produced. 
He died in the city of New York on June 30, 181 3, and 
was buried under Trinity Church. 



298 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

His name and deeds of valor are enrolled among the 
proudest of patriot heroes of the country. 

THE WHALEBOATMEN OF THE REVOLUTION AND THEIR 
HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS. 

The Revolutionary War gave birth to a valorous and 
dashing class of men who operated along Long Island 
Sound, the shores of Long Island, and the Jersey coast, 
from New York Bay to Tom's River, and other inlets 
and harbors. There were many of them, and they were 
an astonishing set of men. Some had small sloops mount- 
inor two small cannon, but the most effective work was 
accomplished in whaleboats. It is singular that naval 
history and works treating on naval subjects have failed 
to record or give the proper place in history to the brave 
and dashing deeds achieved by the whaleboat navy of 
the Revolution. They made themselves feared [and 
hated by their foes, and the British vessels that these 
men captured seem beyond belief, were not the records 
of their work very clear and extensive. They took 
vessels with valuable cargoes, burning or blowing up 
whatever prizes they could not easily bring to port. 

George Raymond, the acting sailing-master of the 
Bon-Homme Richard, commanded by the celebrated 
Paul Jones, resided at Brooklyn, Long Island, and was 
instrumental in fitting out a number of whaleboat expedi- 
tions. He had made two voyages to India previous to 
entering the service under Jones, a very rare occurrence 
for an American in those early days. 

The whaleboat fleet beloncrinor to Connecticut was 

o o 

specially well organized, manned, and effective. From 
their numerous haunts and hiding-places they would 
sally forth, closing with their antagonists so suddenly 
and furiously as to overcome all opposition, frequently 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 299 

carrying armed ships, making up in noise and audacity 
what they lacked in arms and numbers. Long Island 
Sound became very unsafe to British parties and Tories 
and they seldom ventured any great distance upon its 
waters, except they had protection from armed vessels. 
At one time, so bold and daring had the whaleboatmen 
become, that a frigate, a sloop of war, a corvette, and a 
ten-gun brig were ordered to patrol the sound and 
exterminate the privateersmen, placing them beyond the 
pale of quarter for the time being. But these measures, 
beyond involving additional expense to the crown, 
availed nothing. The whaleboatmen carried their lives 
in their hands, but each and all were picked men, and 
with a knowledge that they fought with a halter around 
their necks, none but men of tried valor and courage 
joined the ranks, while the leaders excelled in fertile 
resources, daring conceptions in the mode of attack, com- 
bining with all a perfect knowledge of the scene of 
operations. 

Two of the most prominent, dashing, and successful 
leaders in this mosquito fleet were Capts. Mariner and 
Hyler. Their adventures and exploits, both in and out 
of their trim, lithe whaleboats, read more like romance 
than sober facts, and their gallant deeds are still treas- 
ured up and handed down by many a family dwelling 
along the shores of Long Island Sound. 

It was midsummer when the following exploit was 
achieved, and in the full light of the moon sailing through 
a cloudless sky : 

Capt. Mariner had for a long time contemplated a 
raid upon Flatbush, the resort or headquarters of a 
number of violent Tories, particularly obnoxious to the 
American officers. Gen. Washington was particularly 
anxious to obtain possession of the person of Cols. 



300 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

Axtell and Mathews, who were both active and influential 
loyalists, partisans of the most pronounced stripe. By 
some means Mariner became acquainted with the wish 
of Washington, and, although no communication passed 
between the distinguished commander-in-chief and the 
humble seaman, the whaleboat leader resolved to recon- 
noitre the locality. 

Disguised in the uniform of an independent loyalist 
rifle company, Mariner proceeded to the tavern of Dr. 
Van Biiren, a resort for all the prominent surrounding 
gentry. Entering the tap-room, which was crowded, 
discussions relative to the war and prominent individuals 
were running high and waxing exceedingly hot, as well 
as decidedly personal, as the disguised seamen mixed 
with the company. With ready wut and sarcastic tongue, 
the " rifleman " joined in the argument, while a Maj. 
Sherbook, of the British army, berated Capt. Mariner as 
no better than a murderer, an outlaw, and a thief. 
Mariner's eyes sparkled, his hands twitching nervously 
as he listened to the tirade of abuse poured forth in re- 
lation to himself. 

" Confound this prowling, sneaking midnight vaga- 
bond, with his ragamuffin crew," angrily continued the 
Major, as he snapped a speck of froth that had dropped 
from his tankard upon his laced and scarlet coat sleeve ; 
"he has developed into an intolerable nuisance in these 
parts, and should be checked at once. I would thrash 
him and his followers, single handed, with my riding 
whip, if ever opportunity offered. But these water-rats 
come and go in such a cowardly fashion that soldiers can 
scarcely hope to more than catch a glimpse of their 
flaunting rags." 

" Don't be too sure, my dear Major, in your estimate 
of the water^sneaks, as you are pleased to term them. 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 301 

You may have a nearer glimpse of their rags and steel 
also than you could wish, with an opportunity to make 
good your threat to chastise the leader and his crew, 
sooner than you now dream of," and before the sur- 
prised assemblage had recovered from their consterna- 
tion and the "influence," he had disappeared through the 
doorway into the darkness of the night. 

Repairing at once to New Brunswick, Mariner pre- 
pared his fast light-pulling whaleboat for the trip. The 
crew were summoned, armed to the teeth, and when all 
was in -readiness the long, shapely boat glided swifdy and 
silendy to New Utrecht, where the party formed in 
single file on the beach at Bath, a few minutes after ten 
o'clock at night. Two men were detailed to watch the 
boat, while the remainder of the party proceeded rapidly 
to Flatbush Church. In the shadows of overhano-ino- 
trees the men were divided into four squads, the houses 
they were to attack pointed out to them, each party 
being provided with a battering ram capable of breaking 
in the heaviest door at a blow. Silently and steadily the 
parties proceeded to their several scenes of action, 
Mariner having reserved the residence of the British 
Major as his specia[ mission. 

The signal for united and concerted action was the 
ringing report of a pistol. The battering ram was then 
to be used, prisoners secured and conveyed to the whale- 
boat. The attack was simultaneous in various portions 
of the town. Mariner, sword in hand, searched in vain 
for the doughty Major, but finally, when he was discov- 
ered, the shadows of a large chimney had been used as a 
refuge from the dreaded onslaught of the whaleboatmen. 
He was allowed to make up a bundle of necessaries and 
hurried to the boat. The parties were there — having 
met with more or less success — but the principal game, 



302 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

the officials Washington so much desired to secure, were 
not among the number. Business had unexpectedly 
summoned them to New York the day before or their 
capture would have been effected. After the war Capt. 
Mariner resided many years at Harlem and on Ward's 
Island. He was classed as a strange and eccentric man, 
full of wit and an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes, but 
was not especially popular among his associates and 
neighbors. 

One of the favorite cruising haunts of Capt. Hyler 
was between Egg Harbor and Staten Island. He was a 
man of wonderful nerve, with great power of endurance, 
fertile in resources, and prompt to act in situations 
requiring instant action. 

Mention has been made of the British fleet sent to 
patrol the waters of the sound. The corvette, mounting 
twenty guns, anchored one foggy evening almost abreast 
of Hyler's headquarters, a short distance from Egg Har- 
bor. The tap of the drum and words of command from 
the officer of the deck could be distinctly heard on 
shore. Incredible as it may appear, Capt. Hyler deter- 
mined to attempt the capture of the formidable cruiser. 
He had ascertained that the vessel was short-handed, 
having dropped from her station above with the intention 
of making an early departure for Halifax. The avail- 
able force of the intrepid whaleboat commander con- 
sisted of forty-six well-armed and resolute men, expert 
at the oar, trained to silence and dexterity, so as not to 
be heard at close quarters, even with three or four boats 
pulling in company. Well had they been named " marine 
devils" by their red-coated foes. 

The whaleboat's men were divided into two parties, 
Hyler taking one, his Lieutenant the other. Two swift 
boats were soon pulling up s tream , with oars muffled, 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 303 

keeping- well in the shadows of the rugged shore. The 
night was intensely dark, rendering so small an object as 
a boat close to the surface of the water impossible to be 
detected by the sharpest-eyed sentry and lookout. Once 
in the full influence of the tide, a grapnel was thrown 
overboard, to which was attached a long, stout line. All 
hands disappeared beneath the thwarts, and but two 
heads were visible, the leader in the stern sheets and the 
bow oarsman, who veered away the line. Like a 
shadow, the whaleboat in charge of the Lieutenant hov- 
ered alongside the corvette, while the officer, his head on 
a level with the muzzle of the guns, swung himself into 
the forechannels to reconnoitre. The anchor watch had 
gathered forward, the officer of the deck was leaning 
idly over the cabin companionway, intent upon what was 
passing below, while the marine in the after gangway 
nodded at his post. Dropping cautiously on deck the 
daring whaleboatman glanced hastily about him. A book 
covered with canvas, hanging from a nail beside a spy- 
glass in a rack over the steps leading to the officers' 
quarters, caught his vigilant eye. Gliding swiftly aft he 
grasped the coveted prize, regaining his boat without 
being perceived. He had secured the signal-book of the 
Royal Navy. 

Dropping under the stern, the open windows revealed 
the officers drinking wine and engaging in a game of 
cards. Capt. Hyler listened to the report of his assistant, 
put the signal-book in a place of safety, and at once 
pulled for the corvette. The boats boarded on opposite 
sides, the whaleboatmen gaining the deck before an 
alarm was sounded, the officers, as well as the watch on 
deck, being secured without creating a general alarm. 
The surprise was complete. Prisoners were handcuffed 
and conveyed on shore, while the commander wept and 



304 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

wrung his hands when the flames of his vessel lit up the 
surrounding gloom, recognizing that his career as an 
officer had been forever disgraced. It was not until the 
vessel had blown up that the commander informed Capt. 
Hyler that the cabin transom had held ^50,000 in gold. 

One of the most daring exploits of Capt. Hyler was 
his visit to New York with his men disofuised and 
equipped as a British press gang. The object was to 
secure the notorious renegade and Tory, Lippincott — 
Pete Lippincott — who had savagely butchered Capt. 
Huddy, a brave Continental officer. The patriots had 
offered a handsome reward for him, dead or alive, and 
Capt. Hyler resolved to seek him in his lair. 

With a select crew in one whaleboat he sallied forth 
from the kilns after dark, reaching the foot of Whitehall 
Street as the church bells chimed 10 o'clock. Secreting the 
boat and leaving a guard to watch it, the party pursued 
their way through Canvasstown, as it was then called. 
It was the worst locality in the city, the lowest sink hole 
of iniquity possible for a human being to frequent.. The 
house of Lippincott was reached, surrounded and the in- 
mates secured, but the head of the family, fortunately for 
himself, had that niorht attended a cock-ficrht, and saved 
his neck from the fate he richly deserved. On the return 
trip down the bay a large East Indiaman was encountered, 
which fell an easy prize to the whaleboatmen. The crew 
were set adrift, the ship taken to a secure hiding-place, 
where the rich cargo was removed and the ship burned. 

Capt. Hyler and his men once paid a visit to the house 
of a noted loyalist Colonel, residing at a place known as 
Flatlands. The Colonel was taken, the house searched, 
and two bags, supposed to contain guineas, passed into 
the whaleboat. When daylight dawned, while pulling 
up the Raritan, the bags were examined, and found to 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 305 

contain pennies, belonging to the church of Flatlands. 
The Colonel had the satisfaction of indulging in a hearty- 
laugh at the expense of his captors. 

Hyler operated on the land as well as upon the water, 
and with equal success. In addition to capturing a 
number of richly laden prizes, he took a Hessian Major 
at night from the house of Michael Bergen, at Gowanus, 
when his soldiers were encamped upon the lawn in front 
of the house. He surprised and took a Sergeant's 
guard at Canarsie from the headquarters of their Cap- 
tain. The guard were at supper, their muskets stacked 
together in the hall, with no one by to guard them, and 
fell an easy prize to the whaleboatmen. The arms were 
seized, as well as the silver belonging to the followers of 
the King, and while the officers were compelled to ac- 
company their captors, the privates were directed to re- 
port to Col. Axtell, in New Jersey, with the compliments 
of Capt. Hyler. 

On another occasion he captured four trading sloops, 
one of which was armed, at Sandy Hook. One was 
carried off, the balance burned, the share of prize money 
per man amounting to ^400. 

The captain of a vessel taken by Hyler published the 
following account of the affair in the Pocket in 1779 : 

" I was on deck with three or four men on a very 
pleasant evening, with our sentinel fixed. Our vessel 
was at anchor near Sandy Hook, and the Lion, man-of- 
war, about a quarter of a mile distant. It was calm and 
clear, with a full moon, about three hours above the ho- 
rizon. Suddenly we heard several pistols discharged into 
the cabin and perceived at our elbows a number of 
armed persons, fallen, as it were, from the clouds, who 
ordered us to surrender in a moment or we were dead 
men. Upon this we were turned into the hold and the 
20 



306 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

hatches barred over us. The firing, however, had 
alarmed the man-of-war, who hailed us and desired to 
know what was the matter, and Capt. Hyler was kind 
enough to answer for us, saying that all was well, which 
satisfied the cruiser." 

But a brief outline covering the deeds of the whale- 
boatmen of the Revolution has been given. But it will 
serve to convince the reader that their valorous deeds in 
the cause of liberty have received but scant notice and 
courtesy from the hands of most historians. It is impos- 
sible to restrain one's admiration of their skill and cour- 
ao-e, and althouorh their usefulness ended with the Revo- 
lutionary War, their names and gallantry have a high 
place in naval annals. 

ADVENTUROUS CAREER AND PATHETIC END OF CAPTAIN 
JAMES DREW. 

In the Episcopal churchyard connected with the quaint 
village of Lewes, Del., stands a monument, stained and 
weather-beaten, bearing an inscription all but worn away 
by the action of time and force of the elements. It was 
erected in memory of James Drew, a valorous though 
reckless young American seaman who fought bravely 
during the Revolution. His career and services deserve 
a more extended and prominent place in history than the 
few obscure lines traced on the crumbling marble which 
marks the neglected resting-place of the brave but un- 
fortunate patriot. 

James Drew was an early applicant for a naval posi- 
tion, but, owing to a scarcity of ships, failed to obtain 
from Congress the commission and active service he 
loncred for. He bore the Enoflish no love, and when 
serving as second mate, sailing out of Philadelphia, had 
been taken out of the vessel while in a West India port 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 307 

to serve on an English man-of-war. Drew was a tall, 
powerful stripling, whose breadth of chest and shoulders 
and bright, intelligent face formed a physique not to be 
passed lightly by. He was seized under the pretense of 
being an English deserter and quickly transferred to the 
deck of an English frigate. For two years he found no 
opportunity of escaping from his persecutors, and in that 
time had acquired a perfect mastery of naval drill "and 
discipline which afterwards proved of inestimable value 
to the young commander. The battle of Bunker Hill 
had been fought when young Drew severed his connec- 
tion with the Royal Navy in the following manner : 

He had won the favor and good opinion of all the 
officers of the Medusa frigate, then lying at Halifax, save 
one, the Lieutenant who had been the means of impress- 
ing the young American. He had not forgotten or for- 
given the bitter invectives indulged in by Drew when 
struggling for liberty on the deck of the molasses 
drogher, and to the end remained his uncompromising 
enemy. The officer in question had advanced in rank 
until he filled the position of second in command, while 
Drew held a warrant as gunner. On some trumped-up 
wrong the First Lieutenant, in the absence of his superior, 
summoned the object of his hatred to the quarterdeck, 
where, in presence of the ship's company, he disgraced 
and struck the American. Drew incurred the penalty of 
death by knocking his persecutor down, and before a 
hand could be outstretched to prevent him he had leaped 
overboard and was swimming for the shore. The 
marines fired promptly upon the escaping fugitive, while 
four boats were piped away with orders to bring the de- 
serter back, dead or alive. The shadows of a dark and 
stormy night soon enveloped the retreating form of Drew, 
who, diving beneath the surface, doubled on his pursuers, 



308 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

swam toward the frigate, coming up under the heavy 
counter, gaining a footing on the rudder. A passing 
wood schooner afforded him the opportunity of making 
an attempt for liberty and evading the fate which stared 
him in the face. He concealed himself on board until 
clear of the harbor, boarded another vessel that was 
bound down the coast, succeeding after many perils and 
hardships in once more regaining his native land. At 
Philadelphia his reputation as a seaman and navigator 
was well known, while Robert Morris, the great financier 
of the Revolution and friend of Washington, took the 
young man in charge. Through the influence of his 
powerful protector he could have had a Lieutenant's 
commission in the Continental navy, but this was changed 
for a plan which suited young Drew's temperament 
much better. 

Provided with letters from Morris to a number of cel- 
ebrated personages in France, Drew crossed the ocean 
authorized to negotiate for a large loan of gold and war 
material, and succeeded by dint of persuasion and the 
influence of Morris' name in obtaining command of a 
French armed ship called the De Brock. No time was 
lost in preparing for sea, the only drawback to Drew's 
satisfaction being the fact that his crew consisted entirely 
of Frenchmen. With the gold intended for the cause of 
liberty stowed in the run, with ammunition and small 
arms placed below hatches, Drew sailed for America, 
carrying in the cabin a number of French officers seek- 
ing service under Washington, and who had authority 
over the treasure, relative to its handling and disposition. 
The nature of the vessel, destination, and character of 
cargo had been kept secret as possible, enabling him to 
gain the sea without detention, and the course was 
shaped for Synopuxette Bay, near where now stands 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 309 

Ocean City, Md. The point was reached in safety and 
the contents of the De Brock's hold were soon landed. 
Wagons, under the escort of soldiers, accompanied by 
the French passengers, conveyed both treasure and war 
material to Wilmington. The arms and ammunition 
were at once forwarded to army headquarters, while the 
gold, for some mysterious reason, was deposited in the 
cellar of a large mansion occupied by French officers 
serving with the Americans. There it remained all 
winter, so states the records, though why Robert Morris 
did not assume possession of the specie, which was so 
much needed, is not so plain. 

In the spring the officers were compelled to shift their 
quarters, when it was discovered that the gold which had 
been so jealously guarded had been by some mysterious 
process abstracted from the original packages. The 
flaming torches held on high by the Frenchmen revealed 
naught but walls and arches of solid masonry, with win- 
dows barred and massive doors bolted and locked. No 
indications of violence could be found. No develop- 
ments concernino- the strangre affair were ever unearthed, 
and the mystery involved with the disappearance of the 
gold remains a dark and forgotten episode of the Revo- 
lution. 

The De Brock, meanwhile, had not been idle. Once 
rid of her cargo, Capt. Drew found a way of creating 
vacancies amonor the crew, until, with a freshenincr 
breeze, he passed the capes, his ship manned wholly by 
hardy and experienced fishermen, well drilled and 
anxious to meet the enemy. Early on the morning of 
the third day a sail was sighted in the southern offing, 
close hauled and standino- for the De Brock. In a short 
time the character of the stranger was revealed, as she 
displayed the ensign and pennant of Old England, and 



810 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

on the part of the De Brock, a banner bearing- the de- 
vice of a rattlesnake, with thirteen rattles, coiled at the 
foot of a tree, in the act of striking-. Both vessels had 
cleared for action, and no time was lost in coming to 
close quarters. Running before the wind, yardarm and 
yardarm within half pistol-shot distance, broadsides were 
exchanged in rapid succession. The gunnery on both 
sides was none of the best, which fact rendered Drew 
impatient, who, watching a favorable opportunity, when 
both vessels were enshrouded in smoke, motioned to 
his sailing-master, and with a crash the two vessels 
swung together. 

"Follow me, men!" shouted the impetuous Drew, 
leaping on the quarterdeck of his adversary, cutlass in 
hand, to find himself immediately confronted by the 
English commander. A mutual shout of astonishment 
and fierce exultation from each revealed the fact that 
the leaders were no strangfers to each other. The Lieu- 
tenant of a press gang of a few years back had won the 
epaulets of a commander, while his would-be victim 
confronted him, the leader of a powerful and well-dis- 
ciplined force. As their swords crossed no heed was 
bestowed upon the conflict raging about them. All of 
their energies were concentrated upon one object, to 
have each other's life-blood. 

The British commander, forced backward a step as 
Drew pressed him fiercely, stumbled over a ringbolt and 
fell at his opponent's feet. 

"Resume your sword," said Drew, contemptuously; 
" I prefer to kill you with your weapon in your hand." 

"Look to yourself, rebel and deserter. Your life is 
forfeited, and no mercy shall you receive from my hand." 

"Wait until I ask it," was the reply, and the duel 
was resumed. The Englishman's sword snapped at the 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 311 

hilt; but, leaping nimbly aside, he drew a pistol, firing 
point-blank at his foe. Drew felt his cocked hat lifted 
from his head, his scalp feeling as if seared by a red-hot 
iron. At the same instant his sword passed through the 
commander's body, and the feud between them was 
setded forever. The ship was carried, and was manned 
by a prize crew, but was lost in a terrific storm which 
shordy after swept the Southern coast. 

The cruise of the De Brock extended as far as 
the West Indies, many a sick Jamaica trader falling 
into the hand of the patriots. After a long series of 
successes Drew returned to Lewes, recruited and sailed 
again. 

To recount all the incidents attending the career of 
the De Brock and her commander would no doubt prove 
of absorbing interest, but the records have been lost, 
and litde remains to be related concerning him save the 
manner in which the valorous seaman lost his life. 

He had become enamored with one of Lewes' fair 
maidens, and she, looking into the depths of her lover's 
eyes, had secured from him a solemn promise to give up 
the life he was leading upon the completion of his next 
voyage. Shordy after the De Brock sailed upon what 
was indeed her final cruise. 

In the course of dme two large English ships were 
captured, loaded with valuable cargoes, and carrying an 
immense amount of gold specie. A gale of wind had 
separated them from the convoy, and, when overtaken by 
the De Brock, were tacking off shore to discover, if 
possible, some signs of their scattered fleet. The treas- 
ure had been transferred to the afterhold of the American 
cruiser, while rich bundles and packages of merchandise 
were also stowed in a place of safety. The value of the 
prize was estimated at not far from ;^i, 000,000, sufficient 



8l2 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

to make all connected with the De Brock more than 
comfortable for life. 

Satisfied with the unprecedented success that had 
befallen him, Drew shaped his course for Lewes, driving 
the De Brock over the turbulent surges of the Atlantic 
as she had never been forced before. As the capes of 
Delaware were sighted, the elated commander allowed 
the sailing-master to assume charge, while he, naturally 
exultant over the wonderful success of his efforts, and 
in consideration that he was about to take final leave of 
his officers and crew, deemed the occasion one demand- 
ing from him an expression of his appreciation of their 
valor and faithfulness. He forthwith ordered his stew- 
ard and servants to prepare the table in the cabin, and 
a luxurious entertainment was prepared. The shores of 
his native land were close aboard, the rugged oudines 
of his birthplace were before him. The cheering tides 
of prosperity swept him onward to a safe haven, and 
almost in imagination he felt the soft lips, warm caresses, 
and waving locks of his beloved awaiting his arrival on 
the pebbly beach. 

The decanters had been circulating rapidly, when, 
amid the revels, the piercing strains of the boatswain's 
whistle and his mates were heard summoning all hands 
to shorten sail. The flapping of canvas and thrashing 
of blocks, with loud words of command, were heard 
above the boisterous mirth and incessant clinking of 
glasses, which, in a measure, had kept from the ears of 
revelers the whistling of the rising gale through the taut 
rigging. The sea had suddenly sprang up, causing the 
De Brock to pitch and roll in a very erratic and uncom- 
fortable manner. 

Capt. Drew, flushed with wine, his brain clouded by 
the fumes of the choicest vintage of France, appeared 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 313 

on deck, and, in an unsteady voice, chided the cool, ex- 
perienced, steady-going old sailing-master for reducing 
sail and placing single reefs in the topsails. He was in 
no mood to have the speed of the good ship checked, 
with the spires and cottages of Lewes in sight from the 
quarterdeck. Besides, were not the eyes of his sweet- 
heart upon him, as well as those of his neighbors and 
friends ? He would show them what their townsman, the 
favorite of fortune, could do, and what the De Brock was 
capable of performing. Trumpet in hand, he thundered 
forth order after order, resulting in all sail being made 
again, until the topgallant sails were bulging and 
straining at sheets and braces as the wind swept fiercely 
o'er the darkening sea. Hauling by the wind, in order 
to head up for the harbor, the full force of the sharp, 
whistling tempest was felt upon the straining, tugging 
canvas of the wildly careening ship, and from many a 
bronzed and furrowed cheek came glances of astonish- 
ment and apprehension, as seamen, who had gathered 
experience in every clime, looked anxiously aloft, to 
windward, and on the quarterdeck, where stood Drew 
in full Continental uniform. But such was the discipline 
on the De Brock that not a murmur reached the ears of 
the master spirit. He had charge of the ship now, 
which no one on board would have the hardihood to 
interfere with, knowing full well the impetuous and in- 
tolerant spirit of the commander when his mettle was up. 
No one who valued his life would have hazarded the 
shadow of a suggestion. 

Unyielding and stubborn. Drew stood to windward, 
while a heavier squall than usual whitened the crests of 
the swelling surges. A crash, a shriek, a flashing of 
snowy canvas against the sullen, gloomy background, 
and as the gallant vessel plunged into a seething sea, 



Bl4 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

rolling heavily to leeward, the hungry waves leaped above 
the submerged rail, a black torrent of roaring water 
choked the open hatchways, and the De Brock, like a 
flash of light, a cloud of feathery vapor, disappeared from 
the horrified gaze of the interested spectators, who with 
glasses had been watching the movements and wonder- 
ing at the extraordinary press of canvas being carried 
upon the vessel. 

The De Brock turned bottom up but a short distance 
from Cape Henlopen, carrying with her gold and jewels, 
rich bales of rare merchandise and folds of delicate, 
fragile lace, representing immense values. A few of the 
ship's company succeeded in reaching floating remnants 
of wreckage and were rescued by their townspeople, who 
hastened to the rescue with beating hearts and sorrowful 
minds. Among the survivors was the gray-haired sail- 
inor-master, who lived to tell to his descendants and 
friends the many exciting incidents connected with the 
French-built craft that Drew had gained and commanded 
with consummate skill and gallantry. 

The lifeless body of Capt. Drew, his jaunty uniform 
and gold epaulets entwined with seaweed, but scarcely 
marred by rock or sand shore, was found cast up on the 
beach, cold and rigid in death, his handsome features 
proud and exultant even in death, his curly brown hair 
streaming over the high collar of uniform coat, and his 
dark eyes wide open, staring fixedly at the lowering 
heavens. 

On the extreme point of Henlopen, after a heavy gale 
has been raging and a fierce sea rolling in and thunder- 
ing along the beach, fragments and debris of wreckage 
have often been cast up by the action of the waves, and it 
is current rumor in that vicinity that more than one indi- 
vidual who now ranks as a leading and influential man 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 315 

owes success and prominence to James Drew's misfor- 
tune and the treasure washed out by the sea from amid 
the sodden timbers of the ill-fated De Brock. The wreck 
of that vessel is but one instance in a long- list of similar 
disasters. 

At the close of the Revolution, a brig laden with specie 
was wrecked in close proximity to the cape, and was fol- 
lowed soon after by a huge Spanish treasure ship, her 
hold well ballasted with pieces of eight and stamped bars 
of the precious metal. Another Spanish bark laden with 
the choicest treasures from the land of the Incas came to 
grief on the treacherous shoals one dark and stormy 
night, but three escaping to tell the tale of horror. 

BURNING OF THE FRIGATE PHILADELPHIA IN THE HARBOR 
OF TRIPOLI BY STEPHEN DECATUR. 

Among the exploits of our sailors there is one which 
for daring is almost unparalleled in the history of naval 
warfare. It was a desperate undertaking, and had the 
enterprise failed those who undertook it would probably 
have been laughed at as foolhardy, but its success justi- 
fied the daring of the little band of heroes and brought 
not only fame, but reward to all concerned. 

The story of the Barbary pirates and their former con- 
trol of the Mediterranean is too well known to need re- 
peating. Such was once the power of the petty states 
which bordered the southern shore of the Mediterranean 
that they levied blackmail on every maritime nation of 
the world. No ship entered or left the Mediterranean 
without paying tribute to the Moors. The Days of Al- 
giers, of Tunis, of Tripoli, became immensely wealthy 
through the contributions they levied on Christian ves- 
sels and the tributes paid by Christian States for immu- 
nity from piracy. The United States was one of the na- 



316 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

tions which officially helped to fill the coffers of these bar- 
barian chieftains, but even the tribute which was paid did 
not secure immunity, and in the early years of this cen- 
tury it was perceived that something must be done by 
the government to protect United States commerce in 
that quarter of the world. Then came the war with the 
Algerian States, a conflict entirely on the sea, for the 
distance, of course, was too great for an army to be sent 
from this country, and the war practically amounted to a 
blockade of the ports and the capture of such corsairs as 
attempted to enter or leave. 

In the autumn of 1803, the Philadelphia, a frigate of 
thirty-six guns, in those days a man-of-war of the first 
class, was blockading the harbor of Tripoli. A storm 
came on, the ship was driven to sea, and on returning 
after the wind had lulled noticed a brigantine endeavor- 
ing to steal into the port. The Philadelphia gave chase 
and pursued the corsair close into the shore and within 
three miles of the guns of the forts. Capt. Bainbridge, 
of the Philadelphia, expressed his uneasiness at running 
so close to the shore, but the sailing-master professsed an 
intimate acquaintance with the neighborhood, having 
been there before, and the pursuit was continued. 
Bainbridore did not know that he was amonor reefs, but 
without a moment's notice the ship grounded with such 
violence that many of the men were thrown down on the 
deck. As soon as the corsairs per-ceived that the ship 
was fast they sailed out from Tripoli to attack the vessel, 
and during the day of October 31 the fight was kept up, 
while ineffectual efforts were being made to get off the 
ship by cutting away the foremast and throwing over- 
board all the forward guns, but toward evening Bain- 
bridge, recognizing the inevitable, and fearing lest when 
night came on the ship might be boarded and all on 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 317 

board massacred by the pirates, he scuttled the ship and 
surrendered the vessel. 

The pirates swarmed on board, ordered the prisoners, 
315 in number, including twenty-one officers, into their 
boats and took them to shore. Day, the American poet, 
who was one of the crew, thus describes an experience 
as the captive of the Moors: "When we approached the 
shore, we were thrown headlong into the waves, foaming 
from a high breeze, where the water was up to our arm- 
pits, and left to strangle, or get ashore as we could. At 
the beach stood a row of armed janizaries, through which 
we passed, amidst cursings and spittings, to the casde 
gate. It opened and we ascended a narrow, winding, 
dismal passage, which led into a paved avenue lined with 
grizzly guards, armed with sabres, muskets, pistols, and 
hatchets. Here we halted again a few moments, and 
were again hurried on through various turnings and 
flights of stairs, until we found ourselves in the presence 
of his majesty, the puissant Bashaw of Tripoli. 

"The throne on which he was seated was raised about 
4 feet from the surface, inlaid with mosaic, covered wiih 
a cushion of the richest velvet, fringed with gold, be- 
spangled with brilliants. The floor of the hall was of 
variegated marble, spread with carpets of the most beau- 
tiful kind. The person of the Grand Bashaw made a 
very tawdry appearance. His clothing was a long robe 
of blue silk, embroidered with gold. His broad belt, or- 
namented with diamonds, held two gold-mounted pistols 
and a sabre with a golden scabbard, hilt and chains. On 
his head he wore a large white turban, decorated in the 
richest manner. His whole vestments were superb in 
the extreme. His dark beard swept his breast. I should 
suppose him to be about 40, is rather corpulent, 5 feet 
10 inches in height, and of a manly, majestic deportment. 



318 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

" When he had satisfied his pride and curiosity, the 
guard conducted us into a dreary and filthy apartment of 
the castle, where there was scarcely room for us to turn 
round and where we were kept for nearly two hours, 
shivering in our wet clothes and with the chills of a very 
damp night. The Neapolitan slaves, of whom the Bashaw 
had more than i 50, brought us dry clothing to exchange 
for our wet, and we sincerely thanked them for their ap- 
parent kindness, expecting to receive ours again when 
dry; but the trickish scoundrels never returned our 
clothes nor made us any restitution. Our clothing was 
new, and what they brought us in exchange was old and 
raofcred." 

Two days after the ship had grounded the Moors got 
her off, recovered most of her guns and brought her into 
the harbor of Tripoli, where she formed a substantial ad- 
dition to the Bashaw's fleet. While in captivity Bain- 
brido^e found means to communicate throuorh the Danish 

o o 

Consul in Tripoli with the Americans, and wrote a letter 
to Capt. Edward Preble, of the Constitution, then in the 
Mediterranean, describing the position of the Philadel- 
phia in the harbor and suggesting that an expedition be 
sent to destroy her. Stephen Decatur was then a young 
Lieutenant, in command of the sloop Enterprise. A few 
days after the letter from Bainbridge was received he had 
captured, south of Sicily, a ketch named the Mastico, 
filled with female negro slaves, and brought his prize into 
Syracuse, where the slaves were liberated, and the prop- 
erty on board was sold for the benefit of the crew. As 
soon as Decatur heard of Bainbridofe's sucrofestion he was 
eager to undertake the task in his own ship, the Enter- 
prise. But his proposal was rejected by Preble, who be- 
lieved the Mastico better suited for the task, and ordered 
that she be employed. " Volunteers for an unusually 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 310 

dangerous service" were called for, and sixty-two re- 
sponded, the number being subsequendy increased to 
sixty-nine, and among them, besides Decatur himself, 
then a mere boy of 24, were two other boys destined to 
play an important part in naval affairs. One was James 
Lawrence, a midshipman of 16 years, the other Thomas 
McDonough, of 20. 

A large quantity of combustibles was prepared and 
placed in the ketch, and with his daring ^crew Decatur 
left Syracuse for Tripoli in company with the brig Siren, 
which was to wait off the harbor and pick up the Ameri- 
cans in case they should be compelled to take to the 
small boats. On February 9, 1804, the expedition sailed 
from Syracuse and arrived off Tripoli by night, but a fu- 
rious gale from the shore precluded the possibility of 
making the attack, and for six days the voyagers were 
tossed to and fro on the waves of the Mediterranean, 
their litde vessel being almost swamped by the heavy 
seas. 

On the morning of February 16 the sun rose fair and 
clear, the combusdbles were examined and found to be 
dry and in good order, and sail was made for the harbor, 
the ketch and brig proceeding slowly in order not to 
arrive before night. As the darkness came on the brig 
paused in the offing, while under a brisk breeze the 
ketch sailed into the harbor. An hour later the wind 
lulled and the ketch slowly drifted toward the Philadel- 
phia, which was plainly visible from its great bulk, the 
lighted portholes indicadng that the crew was still awake. 
As the ketch approached it was guided so as to foul the 
Philadelphia at the bowsprit, and the Maltese pilot who 
had been taken on board at Syracuse principally because 
he could speak Arabic called to the officer on the Phila- 
delphia and requested permission to make fast to the 



.320 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

ship's ropes, for the ketch had lost all her anchors in the 
storm. Permission was given, and a line was cast, which 
was caught by the three or four men who appeared on 
the little boat. The remainder, stripped to the waist for 
battle, and with cutlasses and pistols ready to hand, lay 
stowed away behind the bulwarks and invisible to the 
corsairs. 

The Tripolitan officer in command asked the pilot what 
ship was in the offing, for the Siren had been seen, and 
the Maltese replied that it was an English brig waiting 
for daylight to cross the bar and enter the harbor. Not 
the least suspicion was roused in the minds of the corsairs, 
although the rope which made fast the ketch to the Phil- 
adelphia was even then being handled by the men con- 
cealed beneath the bulwarks of the little slaver. As, 
however, a line must be fastened from the stern to the 
larger vessel before boardino- could be effected, it was 
quite possible that the men would be discovered as soon 
as the ketch was brought alongside. The pilot, however, 
kept the Moors entertained with narratives of the cargo 
the ketch contained, manufacturing very clever stories of 
the beautiful slaves and immense wealth on board. A 
moment later the stern line was made fast and the ketch 
brouorht alongside, when the Moors discovered the fifj- 
ures beneath the bulwarks and raised the cry of alarm, 
" Americanos ! Americanos ! " 

Decatur had divided his men into five crews — one to 
remain on board and guard the ketch, the other four were 
first to storm the upper deck of the Philadelphia, then 
three parties were to go below and fire the ship, while 
the fourth held the deck against possible Moorish re- 
enforcements. The moment the ketch was brought 
alongside Decatur gave the word, "Boarders, away!" 
and the American boys swarmed through the portholes 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 



321 



and up over the bulwarks of the Philadelphia. So 
sudden and furious was the onslaught that the Moors 
were taken by surprise, and as the Americans rushed 
forward, cudass in hand, fled before them, jumping into 
the water to escape the terrible enemy. Of the Moorish 
crew of nearly 300 on board, twenty were killed outright, 
how many were drowned could not be ascertained, but a 
number, afraid to leap from the ship, hid below to perish 
a few minutes later like rats in their holes. 

In five minutes from the time of boarding the deck was 
cleared of the pirate crew, the work being done solely 
with the cudass ; not a shot was fired from beginning to 
end. The parties appointed to do the firing at once be- 
gan the work of hauling the combustibles aboard and 
passing them to the lower decks, cabin and hold. Fire 
was se't to the ship in a dozen different places and the 
flames spread with such rapidity that some of the Ameri- 
cans had a narrow escape, and one was severely scorched 
by being compelled to pass up through a burning hatch- 
way. The work was well done, and, as the flames ap- 
peared through the portholes, a rocket was sent up from 
the ketch to nodfy the brig outside that the enterprise 
had been successful. 

Their work finished, the Americans hastily let them- 
selves down into the ketch, and not a moment too soon, 
for so rapidly did the flames spread that there was 
danger of their litde boat taking fire. The Philadelphia 
was a mass of glowing flames before the ketch could be 
disengaged, and such was the draught of air toward the 
burning ship that for some moments it seemed uncertain 
whether the ketch could be gotten away. The stern and 
sails did actually take fire, but a few buckets of water 
exdnguished the blaze, and the men set to work with a 
will at the oars, of which there were four on each side. 



322 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

The capture of the ship had been effected without 
apparently the least suspicion on shore of what was 
going on. The Philadelphia lay directly under the guns 
of the largest fort and not quite 400 yards away. Long 
before the swimmers from the ship could reach the shore 
the blaze warned the garrisons of the forts that some- 
thing was wrong. Small boats were immediately dis- 
patched, some of the swimmers picked up, and thus the 
truth became known. As the ketch was in plain view, a 
heavy fire was at once commenced and from a hundred 
guns on each side of the harbor belched forth flame and 
iron in vengeance for the daring act. But whether from 
haste or inefficiency, the aim of the gunners was bad, 
and although shell and shot plowed up the water all 
around the ketch she was struck but once, and then only 
by a ball going through the sail. 

More to be dreaded than the artillery fire was the 
swarm of boats crammed with corsairs that put forth 
from the shore in pursuit. Decatur said afterwards that 
the little crew of the ketch must have been chased by a 
hundred craft of all sizes, containing probably a couple 
of thousand men, but the pirates reasoned very correctly 
that Americans who could attempt so desperate an act as 
the burning of a ship almost within stone's throw of the 
forts were not to be trifled with in a hand-to-hand en- 
gagement, so kept at a respectful distance and contented 
themselves with a running fire of musketry. The Ameri- 
cans replied, those not at the oars maintaining a lively 
fusillade, while another rocket was sent up as a signal to 
the brig for aid. It was responded to by a rocket in the 
offing, the Siren's boats, full of well-armed men, put off 
to the rescue, and as soon as they came within firing 
distance the Tripolitans withdrew. 

Thus was achieved what Lord Nelson called the most 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 323 

darino- act of the agfe. Not an American was killed, 
only one was wounded, he very slightly, and a third was, 
as already stated, severely scorched. Every participant 
in this hazardous adventure received his reward. De- 
catur, although only a boy, was made Captain ; Lawrence 
and McDonough received substantial promotion ; and 
every seaman was voted two months' extra pay. The 
exploit had serious consequences for the crew of the 
Philadelphia, for the Dey of Tripoli fell into a furious 
passion at the loss of the ship and at once consigned 
the Americans to the filthiest dungeons in his casde, 
where they remained until liberated at the close of the 
war. The act of Decatur's expedition had an important 
influence in bringing the war to an early conclusion, for, 
as the Danish Consul expressed it in an interview with 
the Dey, " If the Americans can burn your ships lying 
under the guns of the fort, they may undertake to burn 
your palace over your head," and the Dey seems to have 
taken the same view of it. He did not have long to 
reflect upon the matter, however, for in less than six 
months Preble's squadron arrived off Tripoli with better 
pilots than those of the Philadelphia, sailed through the 
intricate channels, entered the harbor, bombarded the 
forts and town, and the Dey was glad to conclude a 
treaty of peace, releasing all the American prisoners and 
promising not to demand nor exact tribute from Ameri- 
can vessels. Decatur's later career fully justified the 
reputation he won in his earliest exploit, but none of his 
subsequent deeds of bravery exceeded the burning of 
the Philadelphia. 

McDUGALLS PLUCKY FIGHT IN SIMONOSEKI STRAITS. 

Another of the almost unrecorded chapters in the 
annals of the American Navy was the heroic action be- 



324 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

tween the U. S. ship Wyoming, Commander McDugall, 
and three Japanese cruisers supported by six shore bat- 
teries, during the Civil War. 

The Wyoming had her part in all the hardest of 
blockading and cruising service and fought well when- 
ever she had a chance. She was sent at the same time 
as her sister ship, the Kearsarge, to cruise for that scourge 
of the seas, the Alabama, and just missed her by the 
merest chance on two occasions in the China Seas. 
From there the Alabama squared away for the Atlantic 
again and went to meet her fate under the heights of 
Cherbourg, while the Wyoming sailed to her hardest 
fight with the forces of the Tycoon. 

It was in 1863, toward the end of the dual reign of the 
Tycoon and the Mikado. Japan was in the throes of 
civil war, and the foes of the rebel princes were resist- 
ing to the last the passing of the old feudal system. 

The Prince of Nagato was one of these, and from his 
tiny kingdom that fronted on the Straits of Simonoseki 
he declared himself lord of all he surveyed, including the 
neighboring seas, from which he took as generous toll as 
did ever the pirate chiefs of TarifTa. He had laid violent 
hands upon the vessels of various powers, including 
Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United 
States. Representatives of these powers had protested, 
but the protests had been of little moment. The Japa- 
nese central government had disavowed the acts of the 
pirate prince, but confessed its inability to deal with him 
while more formidable matters enoraored its attention. 

Meanwhile Prince Nagato throve and flourished, and 
one day fired on the American merchantman Pembroke, 
having failed to wring tribute or blackmail by any other 
means, and killed two of her crew. Another diplomatic 
protest from the combined foreign representatives fol- 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 325 

lowed, but Commander McDugall, who was in port 
with the Wyoming, suggested that if the Mikado could 
not subdue his rebellious subject the Wyoming could 
and would without much urging. Accordingly, Mc- 
Dugall was given carte blanche to settle accounts with 
the Prince of Nagato in behalf of all the powers con- 
cerned. 

It was the middle of July when the Wyoming found 
herself in the Straits of Simonoseki and in sight of the 
shore batteries, which were a part of the prince's de- 
fenses to seaward. Before she had time to open on the 
batteries two Japanese gunboats loomed up, one ahead 
and one astern, in the narrow straits, and presently a 
third came cruising out from among the neighboring 
islands. It was a nasty place for a fight, McDugall being 
without charts or pilots, and the odds were more than 
enough for Nelson himself, being forty-eight guns of the 
three Japanese vessels to the twenty-six of the old 
Wyoming, to say nothing of the batteries on shore. 

Working to windward of the nearest Japanese ship, the 
Wyoming opened at long range, and worked down on her 
till when close aboard there was nothing of the enemy left 
standing above decks. The other two vessels had come 
up in the meantime and engaged the American on either 
side, but she lay to and gave them shot for shot, port and 
starboard, till her gunners were smoke-blind and the 
flame of the guns no longer served to light the battle- 
cloud that rolled in white billows over the smooth waters 
of the straits. It was desperate work in the shallow 
water, but the Wyoming was the best vessel and she 
outmaneuvered her two opponents from the start, 
though twice aground and once afire, with as many men 
disabled from splinters and heat as from the enemy's 
shot. 



328 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

Fighting themselves out of one smoke-patch into 
another, the three combatants circled around till they had 
drifted down in range of the shore batteries, which opened 
upon the Wyoming. But McDugall ran across the bows 
of one of his enemies, raked her as he went and left her 
a floating wreck, and then turned his attention to the 
batteries. The Wyoming's men rigged the smith's forge 
on deck and tossed hot shot into the works ashore till 
they set them afire, and the soldiers fled, and the crew of 
the remaining cruiser followed their example. 

McDugall mended his rigging and patched his bul- 
warks, sent word to the recalcitrant prince to arrange for 
indemnity, which he did. The share of the United States 
was $300,000. 

In this action McDugall's loss was five men killed and 
six wounded. 

CAPTAIN McGIFFEN AT THE BATTLE OF THE YALU. 

On September 17, 1894, the Chinese ironclad Chen- 
Yuen with her sister ship, the flagship Ting- Yuen, and 
nine smaller war vessels, met the Japanese off the mouth 
of the Yalu River. 

The Chen-Yuen was protected by 12 and 14-inch ar- 
mor, and carried four 12.2-inch, two 6-inch, and twelve 
machine guns. Her commander was Captain McGiffen 
of the United States Navy. 

Here the famous batde of the Yalu, the first great trial 
of modern ironclads, was fought. Owing to the coward- 
ice of several Chinese commanders, who ran away at the 
first exchange of shots, eight Chinese ships did all the 
fighting against the twelve ships of the enemy. The 
battle was altogether a contest of Orientals, except that 
one man of European blood, trained in the naval school 
of a great Western power, cc^gigianded the Chen-Yuen — 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 327 

Philo Norton McGiffin, of the United States Navy. His 
fighting that day was the dramatic climax of a brave and 
spotless life that had been a nineteenth-century revival 
of knight-errantry. The lives of none of the free-lances 
and fearless adventurers from Hawkesworth to Gordon 
were more romantic than that of McGiffin. 

The reduction by Congress of the U. S. naval force 
sent adrift Lieutenant McGiffin, a graduate of Annapolis 
in the class of '82. As China was engaged in war in 
Asia, McGiffin straightway tendered his services to the 
Chinese Government. The result was eventually that 
China took one French gunboat in a war otherwise en- 
tirely disastrous to her. In 1887 McGiffin became the 
head of the Chinese Naval Academy at Wei-Hai-Wei. 
This was the reason for his command of one of China's 
two most formidable warships in the battle which decided 
the outcome of the Chino-Japanese war. 

The crews of the Chinese fleet had gone through their 
morning drill and dinner was nearly ready when smoke 
from the Japanese ships was sighted by the lookout. 
The appearance of Japan's fleet had been expected for a 
week, but nevertheless the blood in every man's veins 
throbbed quick as the call to action sounded throughout 
the fleet. The Chen-Yuen had already been stripped 
for action. The decks were cleared for the passage of 
ammunition and for the free movement of the crew and 
in order to secure unobstructed arcs of fire for the guns. 
The small boats had been abandoned, the ladders over- 
board or wrapped in wet canvas. These measures were 
taken to avoid the danger fi-om fire and flying splinters, 
both of which are as much to be feared in a sea-fight as 
the enemy's shot. The gun-shields, by order of Captain 
McGiffin, had been removed from the big guns as afford- 
ing no protection from heavy shot and as serving to in- 



328 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

tercept and cause to explode shells that would otherwise 
pass over the heads of the gunners. The ship's fire- 
hose had been connected and let out and bags of sand 
and coal placed on deck to form breastwork against 
small shot. Ammunition for immediate use was piled 
beside the guns. The suggestive hospital appliances, 
bandages, and cots and chairs rigged for lowering the 
wounded to the sick bay, were in position. Buckets of 
sand were placed about the decks and inside the super- 
structure ; for when men are torn to pieces the flow of 
blood makes the deck slippery. 

In less than an hour after the Japanese ships dotted 
the horizon the batde had begun. The Chinese sailors 
were brave and eager for the fight. They were pre- 
pared neither to give nor take quarter and expected 
either to win or go down with their ship. 

McGiffin stood motionless on the bridge listening 
to the reports of the range announced by the sub-lieu- 
tenant in the foretop as the fleets rapidly neared each 
other. The ordeal before him and his men was more 
terrible than soldiers had been called upon to face in 
regular batde since the beginning of human wars. That 
McGiffin fully realized the situation was shown by a 
letter written to his brother upon starting to meet the 
Japanese ships. " You know," he said, " it is four killed 
to one wounded since the new ammunition came in. It 
is better so. I don't want to be wounded. I prefer to 
step down or up and out of this world." Not extraordi- 
nary words, but splendidly expressive of a soldier-like 
way of facing fate. 

The closing lines of this letter were sadly prophetic. 
McGiffin wrote : " I hate to think of being dreadfully 
mangled and then patched up, with half my limbs and 
senses gone." 



"^s. 



\ 




'%ft 



re 



g 






DEEDS OF VALOR. •'^'n 

He came home in exactly the condition he had de- 
scribed, and, true to his determination, chose to step up 
and out of it all. 

There was no sound but the panting of the ship under 
forced draught. The men, grouped quietly at their 
stations, did not venture to speak even in whispers. 
" Fifty-two hundred metres," the range was called. Then 
the great yellow flag of China was raised to the main 
truck, the quick-firing guns opened fire, and the fight 
began. 

The battle lasted for nearly five hours, with the two 
Chinese battleships as its centre. 

It was estimated that McGiffin's ship was hit 400 timea 
and 1 20 times by large shot or shell. The rain of prov 
jectiles visited every exposed point of the vessel. Early 
in the fight a shell exploded in the fighting top, instantly 
killing every one of its inmates. Indeed, all such con^ 
trivances proved to be deathtraps. Five shells burst in- 
side the shields of the bow six-inch gun, completely gut- 
ting the place. Though the carnage was frightful, the 
Chinese sailors, with their commander to encourage 
them, stuck to their posts. A chief gunner was aiming 
his g-un when a shell took off his head. The man behind 
him caught the body, passed it back to his companions, 
calmly finished the sighting of the piece and fired it. 

The Chen-Yuen gave as hard knocks as she received, 
and until her ammunition ran low her fire was rapid and 
more effective than that of her adversaries. One of the 
last shells, fired under McGiffin's personal direction from 
a twelve-inch gun, disabled the thirteen-inch gun on the 
enemy's flagship, the Matsushima, and exploded the 
powder on deck, killing or wounding more than 100 
Japanese officers and men. Then McGiffin's Chinamen 
cheered joyfully. 
20 



332 DEEDS OF VALOR. 

Throuorhout the whole fio^ht McGiffin was the domlna- 
ting spirit of his ship. He was at once her brains and 
her inspiration. 

Even cowardice itself was moved by his fearless ex- 
ample. At the opening of the fight he discovered a lieu- 
tenant and a dozen terrified men hidden below one of 
the enpfine turrets. McGiffin thrashed the officer and 
sent them all on deck, where they afterward fought like 
heroes. 

The five hours' strain on the comn'ander was terrific, 
for there was no subordinate who could relieve him, and 
his presence was required everywhere!. Whilst the fight 
was hottest a fire broke out in the superstructure above 
the forecastle. It became necessary to run out a hose in 
the ran^e of the starboard oruns, which had been ordered 
to fire to port across the forecastle. The men refused to 
do this until McGiffin called for volunteers and offered 
to lead them. Word was sent to the head-gunner at the 
starboard battery to train his pieces ahead, and McGiffin 
and his volunteers started with the hose for the forecastle. 
Half of the men were shot down by the enemy. As the 
captain stooped over to grasp the hose a shot passed be- 
tween his legs, burning his wrists and severing the tail of 
his coat. A fraornent of a shell that had burst aofainst 
the tower wounded him a second time. 

Meanwhile men at the forcastle gun were falling rap- 
idly and the head-gunner was killed. The man who took 
his place, not knowing that his comrades were in front 
of his guns, discharged one of them. The explosion 
knocked the captain and his men down and killed several 
outright. At the same instant another shot struck 
McGiffin. 

He would probably have remained there unconscious 
if water from a gash in the hose had not revived him. 



DEEDS OF VALOR. 333' 

His first glance on coming to his senses was into the 
muzzle of the starboard gun. It was slowly moving into 
position for firing. " What an ass I am to sit here and 
be blown to pieces," thought McGIflfin. So he flung him- 
self from the superstructure and fell eight feet to the 
deck below. With blood pouring from his mouth he 
crawled Into the superstructure and told the men to 
carry him aft. In a few minutes he was fighting his ship 
again. 

McGIffin stood very near a large gun when it exploded. 
He was almost blinded. His hair and eyebrows were 
burned off and his clothes torn and set on fire. There 
was a series of gashes in his trousers extending their en- 
tire length. Throughout the fight his ears were stuffed 
with cotton, as were those of all the gunners, but after 
the day's fighting his ear-drums were found to be per- 
manendy injured by concussion. Several times he was 
wounded by splinters, which he extracted himself. 

With forty wounds In his body, holding an eyelid up 
with one hand, this man of iron nerve led the fighting on 
his ship until the Japanese vessels gave up the contest 
and he alone of all the Chinese commanders kept his 
ship in its proper position throughout the fight, thus pro- 
tecting the flagship and saving the fleet from total de- 
strucdon. 

When the Japanese admiral withdrew, McGiffin navi- 
gated his ship to its dock. His mind never lost its 
effectiveness, though his body was shattered beyond 
repair. In fact, his body was des( ribed as being so 
covered with bruises that it resembled a checker-board. 

In this action a new style of sea-fighting was inaugur- 
ated and an American sailor, a young man 34 years of 
age, set its standard for daring and fortitude under fire 
of the modern guns. 



334 DEEDS OF VALOk. 

After his great battle Captain McGiffin, a mental and 
physical wreck, came to America to die. He met death 
as a brave man should, with but one regret: He wished 
that he miorht have had one chance to fig^ht for his own 
country, with a Yankee crew at his back and a Yankee 
ship under him. 




Blowing Up of The Maine in Havana Harbor. 



337 



THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 

February 15, 1898. 




HE U. S. S. Maine, Captain Charles D. 
Sigsbee commanding, entered the port of 
Havana, Island of Cuba, on the morning 
of January 25, 1898, and was assigned an 
anchorage by the harbor authorities. 

The occasion for the presence of an 
American ship in those waters was the 
desire on the part of the United States to 
impress upon the Spanish Government her friendly atti- 
tude towards Spain. The usual visits of ceremony 
between the officers of the visiting ship and the Spanish 
ofificials followed. 

At 9.40 on Tuesday evening, February 15th, an explo- 
sion occurred in the forward part of the Maine, so terrific 
in its character that it was heard for miles. Subsequently, 
Captain Sigsbee, in writing of the explosion, said: "I find 
it impossible to describe the sound or shock, but the 
impression remains of something awe-inspiring, terrifying 
— of noise, rending, vibrating, all-pervading. There 
is nothing in the former experience of anyone aboard to 
measure the explosion by." 

The whole city was shaken by the force of the explo- 
sion, lights were put out in the streets, and the bay was 
illuminated by the flames of the burning ship. 



338 THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 

The quarters of the crew were forward, and the 
destruction of Hfe among them was appalHng ; of the 
354 men and officers on board the Maine, only loi 
escaped death, and many of those were severely wounded. 
Lieutenant Jenkins and Engineer Merritt were among the 
lost. 

The ship went down very soon, bow first, and many 
of the crew were drowned in their quarters; the officers 
succeeded in getting three boats into the water, both 
captain and crew acting in the coolest and bravest 
manner conceivable. 

Immediately after the explosion, the Spanish warship 
Alfonso XII. and the passenger steamers in the harbor 
lowered boats and all that was possible was done to save 
the few victims of the explosion scattered over the 
waters. 

Captain Sigsbee, who commanded the Maine, telegraphed 
totheSecretary ofthe Navy: "Maine blown up in Havana 
harbor 9.40, and destroyed. Many wounded and doubt- 
less more killed and drowned. Wounded and others on 
board Spanish man-of-war and Ward Line steamer. 
Send lighthouse tender from Key West for crew and 
few pieces of equipment still above water. No one had 
clothes other than those upon him." 

The news of the disaster was spread broadcast over 
the length and breadth of the land. 

The Maine was a battleship of the second class, and 
was regarded as one of the best ships in the new nav\'. 
She was built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and was 318 
feet long, 57 feet broad, 21.6 feet mean draught, and 6682 
tons displacement. 

She had two ten-Inch vertical turrets and two military 
masts, and her motive power was furnished by twin screw 
vertical expansion engines, having a maximum horse- 



THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 339 

power of 9293, capable of making a speed of 1 7.45 knots. 
She carried four ten-inch and six six-inch breech-loading 
guns in her main battery and seven six-pounders and 
eight one-pound rapid-fire guns and four Catlings in her 
secondary battery, and four Whitehead torpedoes. 

The officers of the Maine were: Captain, Charles D. 
Sigsbee, commanding; Lieutenant-Commander, Richard 
Wainwright; Lieutenants, George F. W. Holman, John 
Hood, and Carl W. Jungen; Lieutenants (junior grade), 
George P. Blow, John G. Blandin, and Friend W. 
Jenkins; Naval Cadets, Jonas H. Holden, Walt T. 
Cluverius, Amon Bronson, and David F. Boyd, Jr.; 
Surgeon, Lucien G. Heneberger; Paymaster, Charles 
W. Littlefield; Chief Engineer, Charles P. Howell; 
Passed Assistant Engineer, Frederick C. Bowers; As- 
sistant Engineers, John R. Morris and Darwin R. Mer- 
ritt; Naval Cadets (engineer division), Pope, Washington, 
and Crenshaw; Chaplain, John P. Chidwick; First Lieu- 
tenant of Marines, Albertus W. Catlin; Boatswain, 
Francis E. Larkin; Gunner, Joseph Hill; Carpenter, 
George Helms. 

Upon receipt of Captain Sigsbee's telegram. Secretary 
Long sent orders to the lighthouse tenders at Key West 
to proceed at once to Havana. Their orders were in 
plain language, thus avoiding the delay that would have 
arisen from the use of cipher. 

Divers were also sent from the United States to 
Havana, and on the Sunday following brought up Cap- 
tain Sigsbee's money, papers, and keys. The only ques- 
tion which arose between the Spanish and American 
authorities was in regard to the right of the former to 
send divers down to investigate the condition of the ship; 
and that was promptly settled by an amicable arrange- 
ment that American divers should first do what was 



340 THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 

possible in the way of interior examination and salvage, 
and that Spanish divers should then be permitted to 
join them in the work outside the vessel. 

The most thoroughly equipped wrecking apparatus in 
the country was sent to the scene of the disaster, but, 
after consultation between the expert wreckers and the 
naval officers on the spot, it was decided that all that 
could be done was to recover as many of the guns and 
other valuable appurtenances of the Maine as possible, 
and then leave in Havana harbor the smoke-begrimed 
wreck above which floated pathetically the ensign of the 
United States. There was indeed little to save. The 
great ship was literally riven apart from her keel up and 
from her sharp-spurred prow to a point aft of her mid- 
ship section. There was scarcely a plate in her frame 
that was not sprung or shivered so severely as to pre- 
clude the hope that she could ever be made worthy of 
reconstruction. Work on the wreck was continued until 
early in April, when the flag which had been kept flying 
over the remains of the ill-fated ship was hauled down 
and the U. S. S. Maine declared out of commission. 

Immediately after the receipt of Captain Sigsbee's 
telegram, the administration ordered an investigation. 
The order was issued by Admiral Sicard on Febuary 
19th, and appointed a Court of Inquiry consisting of 
Captain William T. Sampson, commanding the Iowa; 
Captain French E. Chadwick, and Lieutenant-Commander 
William P. Potter, with Lieutenant-Commander Adolph 
Marix as judge advocate. 

The court met on February 21st, on board the United 
States lighthouse tender Mangrove, in the harbor of 
Havana. The first day was taken up with the examina- 
tion of Captain Sigsbee. The second and third days 
were largely taken up in the examination of survivors 



THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 341 

of the explosion, giving their personal experience, and 
in detail explaining the precautions taken at all times, 
and particularly while in Havana, against any possible 
accident. 

At the close of the third day. Ensign W. V. N. Powel- 
son, serving on board the lighthouse tender Fern, lying 
in the harbor of Havana, appeared and gave the first 
testimony about the condition of the ship as disclosed by 
the divers. Mr. Powelson is a young man who graduated 
from Annapolis in 1895. ^^ ^^^ P^^^ special attention 
to construction, and in spite of his youth was detailed to 
look after the divers. All that he said on the first day 
was that apparendy the explosion had taken place on the 
port side, forward of amidships, and that the vessel had 
been shifted by the explosion from port to starboard ; that 
is, from left to right. He was asked to continue his 
investigation, and the examination of survivors continued, 
lasting for several days, and including witnesses who 
were not on board the Maine at the time. The testi- 
mony showed that there were two explosions, the first 
liftincr the forward part of the vessel considerably out of 
the water, and the second, which almost immediately 
followed, was much louder and longer. 

Diver Olsen then appeared and told of what he had 
been able to discover. As he was not an educated man, 
and was not familiar with construction, his testimony was 
not entirely intelligible. An arrangement was then made 
by which all the divers were to report to Mr. Powelson, 
who was to summarize their findings and to testify to 
the same in the presence of the divers themselves. 

The testimony of some of the survivors was thrilHng in 
the extreme. Such hair-breadth escapes as some of them 
told seemed almost impossible of belief The court sat 
only six days in Havana, and then adjourned on February 



342 THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 

26th, to meet in Key West on February 28th, to take the 
testimony of the survivors who had been sent there. In 
the meantime, Mr. Powelson was directed to continue his 
work and report when the court resumed. 

The testimony at Key West occupied only three days, 
duvhig- which time testimony was taken of the survivors 
and others which confirmed the previous statement that 
there were two explosions, the first of which lifted the 
Mame and the second destroyed her forward part. 

On March 6th the court resumed its session in the 
harbor of Havana, and Ensign Powelson was enabled to 
give testimony which show^ed conclusively that the Maine 
was blown up by a submarine mine, and that this resulted 
in the partial explosion of two or more magazines within 
the ship, which completely destroyed the forward part of 
the Maine. 

From the loth to the i8th day, inclusive, the court 
again met in the harbor of Havana, during which time 
Mr. Pow^elson produced a great deal of corroborative tes- 
timony. It was shown that the boilers were in fair con- 
dition in the after-part of the ship and had not exploded. 
These were the only boilers under which there was fire 
at the time of the explosion. Several of the divers found 
a deep hole near the ship's ram, but whether it was 
caused by the submarine mine or dug out by the end of 
the ram as the forward part of the vessel sunk and 
turned over on its side could not be definitely ascertained. 
Around the vessel was found a great deal of powder 
mixed with the mud. When this was brought up and 
fired it burned freely. It was the testimony of ex- 
perts that if the original explosion had taken place 
inside the Maine all of the powder would have been con- 
sumed, or at least all of it would have been consumed in 
those magazines which were affected. As a matter of 



THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. -"^^S 

fact, it was found that in two magazines part of the 
powder had exploded and a part of it had not, showing 
that the explosion did not take place until the vessel was 
sinking and the powder in some places was wet. A 
great many powder cans, as already stated, were found 
containing a little powder, and many which had burst at 
the seams and had allowed the powder to dissolve in the 
jvater. 

The court left the harbor of Havana on March 14th and 
convened March 17th, on board the battleship Iowa, off 
Key West, where it met for five days, going over the 
tesUmony and preparing the report. This report was 
signed March 21st and sent to Admiral Sicard on board 
the flagship New York, who approved it on the 2 2d of 
March and forwarded it to the Secretary of the Navy, 
who in turn handed it to the President, who sent it with a 
special message to Congress on March 28th. The court 
was formally dissolved on the fifth day of April, As the 
report was of great importance, it is here given in full: 

U. S. S. IOWA, FIRST RATE. 

KEY WEST, Fla., Monday, March 21, 1898.— After full and mature considera- 
tion of all the testimony before it, the court finds as follows: 

ONE. That the United States battleship Maine arrived in the harbor of 
Havana, Cuba, on the twenty-fifth day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, 
and wras taken to buoy No. 4, in from five and a half to six fathoms of water, by the 
regular government pilot. 

The United States Consul-General at Havana had notified the authorities at 
that place, the previous evening, of the intended arrival of the Maine. 

TWO. The state of discipline on board the Maine was excellent ; and all orders 
and regulations in regard to the care and safety of the ship were strictly carried 
out. 

All ammunition was stowed in accordance with prescribed instructions, and 
proper care was taken whenever ammunition was handled. 

Nothing was stowed in any one of the magazines or shell-rooms which was not 
permitted to be stowed there. 

The magazines and shell -rooms were always locked after having been opened, 
and after the destruction of the Maine the keys were found in their proper place in 
the captain's cabin, everything liaving been reported secure that evening at 8 P. M. 



344 THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 

« 
The temperatures of the magazines and shell-room were taken daily and reported, 
The only magazine which had an undue amount of heat was the after ten-inch mag- 
azine, and that did not explode at the tmic the Maine was destroyed. The forward 
boilers were wrecked by the inner explosion. 

The torpedo warheads were all stowed in the after-part of the ship under the 
ward-room, and neither caused nor participated in the destruction of the Maine. 

The dry gun-cotton primers and detonators were stowed in the cabin aft and 
remote from the scene of the explosion. 

Waste was carefully looked after on board the Maine to obviate danger. Spe- 
cial orders in regard to this had been given by the commanding officer. 

Varnishes, dryers, alcohol and other combustibles of this nature were stowed on 
or above the main deck and could not have had anything to do with the destruction 
of the Maine. 

The medical stores were stowed aft under the ward-room and remote from the 
scene of the explosion. 

No dangerous stores of any kind were stored below in any of the other store- 
rooms. 

The coal bunkers were inspected daily. Of those bunkers adjacent to the for- 
ward magazine and shell-rooms four were empty, namely, " B 3," " B 4," "B 5," 
"B6." 

" A 5 " had been in use that day, and "A 16 " was full of new river coal. This 
coal had been carefully inspected before receiving it on board. The bunker in 
which it was stowed was accessible on three sides at all times, and the fourth side at 
this time, on account of bunkers " B 4 " and " B 6 " being empty. This bunker, " A 
16," had been inspected Monday by the engineer and officer on duty. 

The fire-alarms in the bunkers were in working order, and there had never been 
a case of spontaneous combustion of coal on board the Maine. 

The two after boilers of the ship were in use at the time of the disaster, but for 
auxiliary purposes only, with a comparatively low pressure of steam and being tended 
by a reliable watch. These boilers could not have caused the explosion of tiie ship. 
The four forward boilers have since been found by the divers and are in a fair con- 
dition. 

On the night of the destruction of the Maine everything had been reported 
secure for the night at 8 P. M., by reliable persons, through the proper authorities, 
to the commanding officer. At the time the Maine was destroyed the ship was 
quiet and, therefore, least liable to accident caused by movements from those on 
board. 

EXPLOSIONS. 
THREE. The destruction of the Maine occurred at 9.40 P. M., on the 151)1 
day of February, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, 
she being at the time moored to the same buoy to which 9he had been taken upon 
her arrival. 

There were two explosions, of a distinctly different character, with a very short, 
but distinct, interval between them, and the forward part of the ship was lifted to a 
marked degree at the time of the first explosion. 

The fir-t explosion was more in the nature of a report, like that of a gun; while 
the second explusion was more open, prolonged and of greater volume. This' second 




T^ 



tHE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 347 

expTosIon was, in the opinion of the court, caused by the partial explosion of two or 
more of the forward magazines of the Maine. 

CONDITION OF THE WRECK. 

FOUR. The evidence bearing upon this, being principally obtained from divers, 
did not enable the court to form a definite conclusion as to the condition of the 
wreck, although it was established that the after-part of the ship was practically 
intact and sank in that condition a very few minutes after the destruction of the 
forward part. 

The following facts in regard to the forward part of the ship are, however, 
established by the testimony : 

That portion of the port aide of the protective deck which extends from about 
frame 30 to about frame 41 was blown up aft and over to port. The main deck, 
from about frame 30 to about frame 41, was blown up aft and slightly over to star- 
board, folding the forward part of the middle superstructure over and on top of the 
after-part. 

This was, in the opinion of the court, caused by the partial explosion of two or 
more of the forward magazines of the Maine. 

FIVE. At frame 17 the outer shell of the ship, from a point eleven and one- 
half feet from the middle line of the ship and six feet above the keel, when in its 
normal position, has been forced up so as to be now about four feet above the surface 
of the water ; therefore about thirty-four feet above where it would be had the ship 
sunk uninjured. The outside bottom plating is bent into a reversed V-shape, the 
wing of which, about fifteen feet broad and thirty-two feet in length (from frame 17 
to frame 25), is doubled back upon itself against the continuation of the same plating 
extending forward. 

At frame 18 the vertical keel is broken in two, and the flat keel bent into an 
angle similar to the angle formed by the outside bottom plating. This break is now 
about six feet below the surface of the water, and about thirty feet above its normal 
position. 

In the opinion of the court, this effect could have been produced only by the 
explosion of a mine situated under the bottom of the ship at about frame 18, and 
somewhat on the port side of the ship. 

SIX, The court finds that the loss of the Maine, on the occasion named, was 
not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the officers or 
members of the crew of said vessel. 

SEVEN. In the opinion of the court, the Maine was destroyed by the explo- 
sion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two or more of her 
forward magazines. 

EIGHT. The court has been unable to obtain evidence fixing the responsi- 
bility for the destruction of the Maine upon any person or persons. 

W. T. SAMPSON, Captain, U. S. N., 

President. 

, A. MARIX, Lieutenant-Commander, U. S. N., 

Judge Advocate. 



S48 THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 

The court, having finished the inquiry it was ordered to make, adjourned at n 
A. M., to wait the action of the convening authority. 

W. T. SAMPSON, Captain, U. S. N., 

President. 

A. MARIX, Lieutenant-Commander, U. S. N., 

Judge Advocate. 

U. S. Flagship T<iew York, 
March 22, 1898. 

Off Key West, Florida. 
The proceedings and findings of the Court of Inquiry in the above case are ap- 

pfoved. 

M. SICARD, 

Rear Admiral, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Naval Force on the North 
Atlantic Station. 

This in brief is the story of how the causes of the dis- 
aster were reached. Too much credit cannot be given 
to young Ensign Powelson for his intelHgence and energy 
in proving to a mathematical demonstration that the 
Maine was blown up by a submarine mine. 

The Spanish officialsin Cuba made a perfunctory inves- 
tigation. Altogether, their divers were down below 
about five hours, during which time diey made a most 
cursory examination. This court then reported that the 
Maine had been blown up as the result of an interior ex- 
plosion, one of the principal reasons for this being that 
no dead fish were found in the harbor afterwards. Our 
own experts testified that an explosion underneath the 
water would not necessarily kill fish, nor would it throw 
up a great volume of water, as the Spaniards claim. 

When the news of the terrible calamity reached the 
United States, public feeling reached the highest pitch 
»f excitement. Rumors of all kinds were in the air. 
Enormous editions of the great journals were printed, 
and the one topic of conversation was the cause of the 
disaster and the effect of the occurrence upon our rela- 



THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE. 349 

tions with Spain. Hourly bulletins were displayed at 
the newspaper offices. 

The provocation to excitement caused by the appalling 
disaster was great, but the country bore the news with a 
calmness and steadiness which indicated its inherent 
strength, and greatly impressed foreign observers. 
Great credit was given to Captain Sigsbee; who, in that 
terrible moment when, in a foreign port, surrounded by 
what must be regarded as a hostile population, his ship 
sunk under him as the result of a mysterious and deadly 
blow, showed not only intrepidity, but perfect self-pos- 
session. His quiet, dignified, self-restrained dispatch, 
with its calm statement that any judgment upon the cause 
of the disaster must be postponed, gave a fine example, 
which was instantly responded to by the Government and 
the nation. 

Most hearty were the words of praise for Chaplain 
Chidwick of the Maine, who, day after day, worked in- 
cessantly among the ghasdy spectacles as the dead were 
brought to shore, idendfying the bodies, performing short 
religrious rites over each, makinor records of all clues to 
identity, and in the intervals consoling the wounded at the 
hospitals. 

As time wore on, each succeeding day bringing its 
rumors of retaliation and intervention in Cuban affairs, 
and in the midst of war preparations on an unprecedented 
scale, which were being carried on by the War and Navy 
Departments, President McKinley and his advisers, and 
both branches of Congress, acted as strong men act 
under great blows and great provocation. There was 
no hasty denunciation. The spirit of the brave men at 
Havana and of the heads of the Government at Wash- 
ington was fully shared by the people at large. The 
United States had a President in whom they trusted. 



DEWEY'S TRIUMPH AT MANILA. 




^OMMODORE GEORGE DEWEY'S 
historic victory in Manila Bay on the 
morning of May i, 1898, is the most nota- 
ble feat in the history of American naval 
battles. That the first serious encounter 
between the United States and Spain 
should take place at the antipodes, across 
vague leagues of sea and land, was not 
anticipated by the people of the United States ; yet it 
would almost seem that a prophetic instinct on the part 
of the Navy Department had selected the men and the 
ships for the Asiatic squadron. 

It was in January, 1898, that Commodore Dewey raised 
his pennant on the Olympia. Believing that in the event 
of hostilities with Spain the opportunity to wind up his 
career gloriously would be in an Atlantic assignment, 
to which he had a right, Dewey reluctantly accepted the 
Asiatic billet. But when he received the curt order to 
"capture or destroy" the Spanish fleet in the East, he 
complied so effectually that his victory stands out single 
and alone as the most brilliant achievement in naval 
warfare. 

Threatening complications between Russia and Eng- 
land regarding the possible partition of China, and Ger- 
man aggressions on the Celestial Empire in a time of 
peace, had led to an increase in our Asiatic squadron, 

(350) 




ADMIRAL DKWKY AND STAFF 









\'^ 



■9-0: 

"-i 









•«,f . '-3. • 







CREW OF THE OLYMPIA 



DEWEY's triumph at MANILA. 353 

even before a clear apprehension of hostilities with Spain 
had been felt by the American Government. Dewey's 
squadron, which lay in the cosmopolitan harbor of Hong 
Kong, when the President's order was received on April 
26th, consisted of the Olympia, flagship, a protected 
cruiser, first rate ; the Baltimore, the Boston, and the 
Raleigh, protected cruisers of the second rate ; the Con- 
cord, third rate ; the Petrel, fourth rate ; and the McCul- 
loch, a revenue vessel. 

Dewey had not been idle while lying in this neutral 
port. He had purchased, right at hand, two ships of 
considerable size — the Zafiro and the Nanshan — and had 
loaded them with coal and provisions. Always a student 
of harbors and coast lines, he studied by day and by 
night charts of the China Sea and adjacent waters. He 
dressed his white squadron in a war coat of nameless 
drab, and waited impatiently for permission to engage 
the Spanish fleet known to be in Philippine waters. 

While conjecture had been busy with the possibilities 
of inflicting a blow upon Spain in the East, no one was 
so sanguine as to even hope that our almost unknown 
fleet in Asiatic waters would seek out the enemy and 
fight him until not a vessel was left to fly his flag. But 
that is exactly what did occur. It proved to be one of 
the most interesting and instructive lessons in the use 
of warships, and changed the fortunes of a vast and rich 
colony, by wresting from Spain her most splendid pos- 
session in the East. 

The law of nations allows belligerents a stay of only 
twenty-four hours in a neutral port after war has been 
declared. As China had not at that time announced her 
position of neutrality, her ports were open to the Ameri- 
can Commodore, and Dewey took refuge in Mirs Bay, 
some thirty miles from Hong Kong. From this harbor 



S54 dewey's triumph at Manila. 

he set forth upon his quest for the Spanish fleet, brav- 
ing the dangers of torpedo, ram, and shell in the ten- 
sion and hope of conflict. 

Day by day he sent his scouts into every harbor and 
inlet likely to be tenanted by the enemy. Every precau- 
tion known to naval craft was employed. Subig Bay, 
where it was half-hoped the Spanish Admiral would be 
found, was empty of war- vessels. Still skirting the Philip- 
pine coast, Dewey's ships were abreast the entrance to 
Manila Bay at midnight, April 30th. With an entrance 
to the China Sea on the westward, the bay of Manila is in 
shape not unlike a vast balloon. In this entrance^ ideally 
placed by Nature to guard the approach to Spain's most 
affluent spot in her Oriental colonies, tower the islands of 
Corregidor and Rulacabilla. Twenty-six miles to the 
northeast lies the city of Manila, the emporium of the 
vast Philippine group. 

Some ten miles to the south and west of Manila is 
Cavite, on an arm of land which points outward, com- 
pletely sheltering a large sheet of water where the Span- 
ish Admiral Montojo had anchored his fleet. Cavite 
was the seat of Spanish naval activity in the East Indies. 
It contained a dock, an arsenal, and a marine railway. 

Dewey's hardihood in entering hostile waters during 
the hours of darkness will be best understood b}' a con- 
sideration of the dangers to be encountered by the 
American fleet. Once past the Krupp guns of heavy 
calibre that lined the embattled cliffs of Corregidor and 
her sister island, miles of torpedo-strewn waters inter- 
vened before the batteries of Cavite could be engaged. 
Spain had made unstinted efforts to erect Cavite into an 
inexhaustible defense, both as to provisions and appli- 
ances for any emergenc}''. For 3^ears no stranger had 
been able to get within observing distance of its arsenal ; 



DEWEy's triumph at MANILA. 355 

and throughout the Easteru seas it was the belief that 
the defenses of Manila were impregnable, so ample had 
been the precautions of Spain. From a military point 
of view Cavite was much more important than Manila 
itself. ^ ^ 

Strong testimony to Dewey's heroism is the fact that 
he went to his work anticipating all the dangers that 
his own skill, prudence, and scientific knowledge could 
suggest. He naturally supposed that Spain's chief city 
in the East was prepared for such an onset as he med- 
itated. He gave his enemy credit for the plans of de- 
fense that he himself would have adopted, had their po- 
sitions been reversed. 

Before entering Manila Bay, he called his captains 
together and made known his plan of operations. The 
group comprised Captain Charles V. Gridley, of the flag- 
ship ; Commander N. M. Dyer, of the Baltimore ; Cap- 
tain Joseph B. Coghlan, of the Raleigh ; Captain G. F. 
F. Wilde, of the Boston ; Commander Asa Walker, of 
the Concord ; Commander E. P. Wood, of the Petrel ; 
and Captain D. B. Hodgson, of the McCulloch. With 
instructions to slip past the islands and into the bay 
under cover of the darkness, the captains returned to 
their respective ships. It was fully arranged that once 
inside the bay they were to engage the enemy where- 
ever found. 

With all lights extinguished, in a night of misty dark- 
ness, the audacious Commodore led the way, followed by 
the remainder of the line. When the lights of Corre- 
gidor were plainly visible, and while under the very 
sweep of its guns, " all hands " was called and coffee 
served. One by one, the spectral fleet slipped by with- 
out challenge. Then suddenly a shower of sparks from 
the McCulloch's funnel was followed by the boom of a 



356 Dewey's triumph at Manila. 

great gun from Corregidor, then anotHer, and still a 
third. To this last, the Boston and the McCulloch 
replied. The flashing and booming from the island con- 
tinued for a few minutes longer — then silence. 

The perils of torpedoes ^d mines still remained to the 
groping vessels ; • the possibility of being rammed in 
the darkness by the Spanish fleet was present in every 
mind ; yet the adventurous fleet swept on, Dewey, on 
the bridge, talking in undertones to the rebel Philippino 
who was acting as pilot. Afterwards, an officer, in an- 
alyzing the sensations of the crisis, said : " This invisi- 
ble fleet ahead was a test, out of which no man came 
without a sigh of relief. It is a hard thing to whisper 
an order, I know, so perhaps it is not to be wondered 
at that there should have been a break or vibration in 
the men's voices as they passed the necessary word from 
mouth to mouth. We were all keyed up, but it was not 
long before the fighting string in every man's heart was 
twanging and singing like a taut bow." 

In tropic lands, day breaks with a flash. The sun- 
light of that morning revealed each American ship 
stripped for action — with lines of men asleep beside 
their guns. Nestled in dazzling foliage, the suburbs of 
Manila surrounded the city itself — a mass of spires and 
domes from which the jangle of church bells was wafted 
to the invading fleet. Part of the Spanish ships were 
visible, part concealed behind the claw-like arm of 
Cavite; but all were eager to challenge the Yankee 
right of way, although evidences abounded that they 
were taken unawares. 

Both Captain-General Augusti and Admiral Montojo 
knew that war had been declared. They were in cable 
communication with Hong Kong and knew the exact 
status of the American fleet. Yet they had neglected 



DEWEY's triumph at MANILA. 359 

tie most elementary preparations and precautions, and 
the arrival of the American squadron was a bewildering 
surprise. 

After safely anchoring his supply ships out of range, 
the American fleet, still led by Dewey in the Olympia, 
circled majestically to the eastward to meet the Spanish 
Admiral, who had aligned his ships with the intention 
of compelling a standing fight. 

The following account is taken from the first letter 
received by the Navy Department from Commodore 
Dewey, after his arrival at Manila. The date was May 
4, 1898: 

****** Entered the south channel at 12.30 
A. M. (May i), steaming in line at eight knots. After 
half the squadron had passed, a battery on the south 
side of the channel opened fire, none of the shots taking 
effect. The Boston and McCulloch returned the fire. 
The squadron proceeded across the bay at slow speed, 
and arrived off Manila at daybreak, and was fired upon 
at 5.15 A. M. by three batteries at Manila and two near 
Cavite, and by the Spanish fleet anchored in an approx- 
imate manner on the east and west line across the mouth 
of Bakor Bay, with their left in shoal water in Canacao 
Bay. 

" The squadron then proceeded to the attack. The 
flagship Olympia, under my personal direction, leading, 
followed at a distance by the Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel, 
Concord, and Boston, in the order named, which forma- 
tion was maintained throughout the action. The 
squadron opened fire at 5.41 A. M. While advancing 
to the attack tM^o mines were exploded ahead of the flag- 
ship, too far to be effective. The squadron maintained a 
continuous and precise fire, at ranges varying from five 
thousand to two thousand yards, counter-marching 



360 Dewey's triumph at Manila. 

in a line approximately parallel to that of the Spanish 
fleet." 

The opening shot came from the Spaniards ; still 
Dewey stood silent on the bridge of the Olympia, until 
the Spanish flagship had sent her first salute to the 
American Commander, and the American flagship had 
become the target of the Spanish line. Then he turned 
calmly to the waiting captain by his side, with the his- 
toric words : 

" When you are ready, you may fire, Gridley ! " 

Almost simultaneously with the tranquilly uttered 
permission to return the enemy's fire, the roar of the 
Olympia's guns sounded as the flagship turned her side 
to the line of fire, and each ship in turn took up the re- 
frain. Dewey's plan of operations kept the American 
fleet in constant movement, turning an alternate side in 
firing, enabling every battery to come into play in turn, 
thereby easing the strain on each. Such tactics were 
not counted upon by the Spanish Admiral, who had an- 
ticipated a combat, ship to ship, but they reflect the 
highest credit upon the broad scope of Dewey's master- 
ful aggressiveness. 

Again referring to Dewey's modest account of the 
action, we find : " The enemy's fire was vigorous, but 
generally inefiective. Early in the engagement two 
launches put out towards the Olympia with the appar- 
ent intention of using torpedoes. One was sunk and 
the other disabled by our fire and beached before an op- 
portunity was had to fire torpedoes. At 7 A. M. the 
Spanish flagship, Reina Christina, made a desperate at- 
tempt to leave the line and come out to engage at short 
range, but M-as received with such galling fire, the entire 
battery of the Olympia being concentrated upon her, 
that she was barely able to return to the shelter of the 



Dewey's triumph at Manila. 361 

point. The fires started in her by our shells at this 
time were not extinguished until she sank. 

" The three batteries at Manila had kept up a contin- 
uous report from the beginning of the engagement, 
which fire was not returned by this squadron. The 
first of these batteries was situated on the south mole- 
head, at the entrance to the Pasig River. The second 
was on the south bastion of the walled city of Manila, 
and the third at Malate, about one and a half miles 
further south. At this point I sent a message to the 
Governor-General to the effect that if the batteries did 
not cease firing the city would be shelled. This had the 
effect of silencing them." 

Amid the din of broadsides and across the shot-torn 
sea, the Spanish Admiral, leaving his line of battle, 
bravely made direct for the Olympia. Montojo himself, 
with his two sons as aides, stood upon the bridge of the 
Reina Christina as she bore down upon the rival flag- 
ship. Advancing and retiring with each circling evolu- 
tion of the American fleet, the Spanish leader contin- 
ually sought the Olympia, whose every gun was turned 
upon his ship. The duel between the flagships con- 
tinued until, as the Reina Christina turned to the shore, 
an eight-inch shell from the Olympia's main battery 
struck her squarely in the stern, under the protecting 
deck plates, tore through the vessel and killed and 
wounded one hundred and thirty men, including the 
captain. An eye-witness on the Olympia gave the fol- 
lowing account of this single shot : 

" The Commodore passed the word to concentrate all 
possible fire on the Reina Christina, and she actually 
shivered under the battering of our storm of shot and 
shell. Rents appeared near her water-line where the 
eight-inch shells had torn their way. One shot struck 



362 dewey's triumph at Manila. 

the port bridge on which Admiral Montojo stood, upon 
which, like the brave man he \vas, he coolly stepped 
to the other end. But no bravery could stand the 
driving, crushing, rending of the tons of steel which we 
poured into the Christina, and there was quite a little 
cheer from our forward men as the Spanish flagship 
turned and made for the shore. 

" But appreciation of courage on the part of the enemy 
did not prevent our gunners from also appreciating the 
excellent opportunity which the retreating flagship gave 
us for a raking shot. As she got into her swing with the 
stern dead toward us, one of Captain Gridley's guns 
thundered, and an eight-inch shell struck the enemy as 
squarely in the centre as though she had been painted 
off in target squares. It was a bull's eye so marvelous 
in its exactness and so terrible in its effects that I cannot 
help speaking of it a little more at length. We saw 
from where we stood that it shattered the Christina's 
steering gear, and, unless our e^^es ver}' much deceived 
us, we saw, too, that the Spauiard was actuall}^ driven 
forward with a shivering motion like one prize-fighter 
sent in catapult fashion staggering into the ropes from 
the fist blow of another prize-fighter. 

" From what we learned then, and from what we were 
able to learn afterward, I am convinced that no man in 
the squadron had up to that time an idea of the awfully 
destructive possibilities of the eight-incher. The pro- 
jectile weighed two hundred and fift}- pounds, and one 
hundred and fifty pouuds of powder were used to expel 
it. The gun itself was about twenty-eight feet long. 
When it left Gridley's gun the shell traveled at the rate 
of two thousand feet a second. The distance between 
the Olympia and the Reina Christina was about two 
thousand five hundred yards, and the time between the 



DEWEy's triumph at MANILA. 363 

shot's leaving the muzzle of our gun and its impact on 
the stern of the Spanish ship was the scarcely appre- 
ciable one of five seconds. When it left our gun it had 
what is technically known as an energy of over eight 
thousand foot-tons — that is, it would have gone through 
twenty-one and a half inches of Harveyized steel. But 
the Reina Christina was an unarmored vessel, and all 
that enormous penetrative energy was expended on the 
Spanish cruiser's protected sides, and such internal re- 
sistance of partitions, bulkheads, engines, etc. It was 
through all these obstructions that the great shell tore 
its way until it reached the aft boiler. There it exploded, 
and as it did so ripped up the deck of the cruiser and 
scattered its hail of steel in all directions. We could 
see the smoke pouring out of the vessel, the gush of 
escaping steam, and the shower of splinters and man- 
gled bodies." 

The sequel may be given in Admiral Montojo's own 
words : " Although we recognized the hopelessness 
of fighting the American ships, we were busy returning 
their fire. The Reina Christina was hit repeatedly. 
Shortly after 6.30 o'clock I observed fire forward. Our 
steering gear was damaged, rendering the vessel unman- 
ageable, and we were being subjected to a terrible hail of 
shot and shell. The engines were struck. We estimated 
we had seventy hits about our hull and superstructure. 
The boilers were not hit, but the pipe to condenser was 
destroyed. A few minutes later, I observed the after 
part on fire. A shell from the Americans had penetrated 
and burst with deadly effect, killing many of our men. 
The flag lieutenant said to me : ' The ship is in flames. 
It is impossible to stay on the Christina any longer.' 
He signaled to the gunboat Isla de Cuba, and I and 
my staff were transferred, and my flag hoisted on her. 



364 dewey's triumph at Manila. 

Before leaving the Christina, my flag was hauled down. 
My flagship was now one mass of flames ; I ordered 
away all the boats I could, to save the crew." 

At this point Dewey ordered the signal made to cease 
firing, and withdrew his ships to give the men their 
breakfast. The morning was hot, and his gun crews, 
stripped to the waist, had been fighting on a single cup 
of coffee all around. A blinding, impenetrable smoke 
covered the havoc the American ships had wrought ; but 
when the Spaniards caught sight of the withdrawing 
fleet, they burst into cheers, and Captain-General Au- 
gusti sent a dispatch to Madrid, in which he stated that 
the Yankee fleet had drawn off, disabled. At the same 
time the land batteries sent a shower of shells after the 
receding ships. " No reply, I suppose, sir ? " asked the 
executive of&cer of the flagship. "Oh, no!" Dewey re- 
plied. " Let them amuse themselves. We shall have 
plenty of chance to burn powder after breakfast. We 
haven't really begun fighting yet." 

After breakfast had been concluded, Dewey turned 
to his chief of staff, and inquired if ever3^thing was 
ready. " I believe so, sir," was Lamberton's reply. 
" Very well. Call to quarters and get under way," was 
the quiet order. 

Continuing his report. Commodore Dewey says : " At 
7.35 A. M. I ceased firing and withdrew the squadron for 
breakfast. At 11. 16 A. M. returned to the attack. By 
this time the Spanish flagship, and almost the entire 
Spanish fleet, were in flames. At 12.30 P. M. the squad- 
ron ceased firing, the batteries being silenced, and the 
ships sunk, burned, and deserted. At 12.40 P. M. the 
squadron returned and anchored off Manila, the Petrel 
being left behind to complete the destruction of the 
smaller gunboats that were behind the point of Cavite. 



DEWEY's triumph at MANILA. ^Q6 

This duty was performed by Commander B. P. Wood 
in the most expeditious and complete manner possible." 

Captain Dyer, in the Baltimore, led the second attack, 
and when within three-thousand-yard range poured a 
broadside into the Reina Christina. The Spanish flag- 
ship seemed to crumble into fragments under the dis- 
charge of the Baltimore's guns ; her captain, Cardaso, 
and many of his men were killed, and the remainder of 
her crew jumped overboard and swam for the nearest 
ship as the Reina Christina settled and sank. Then the 
Baltimore, Olympia, and Raleigh poured such a stream 
of shells into the Don Juan d'Austria that she fairly 
rocked under the impact of their missiles. A shell from 
the Raleigh exploded in the magazine of the doomed 
ship, which blew up with such a violent concussion as to 
careen the El Correo, already so damaged that the Petrel, 
the smallest of the American warships, finished her with 
a few shots. A broadside from the Boston landed with 
such precision on the Velasco that she heeled to port, 
showing the jagged rents in her starboard side. The 
Spanish ship sank so rapidly that her crew had barely 
time to escape to the shore in boats. The Castilla, on 
fire and helpless, was scuttled to prevent the explosion 
of her magazine. 

"Every ship in the Spanish fleet," says an eye-wit- 
ness, "with one exception, fought valiantly; but to the 
Don Antonio d'Ulloa and her commander, Robion, should 
be given the palm for that form of desperate courage and 
spirit which leads a man to die fighting. The flagship 
and the Boston were the executioners. Under their 
shells the Ulloa was soon burning in half a dozen places ; 
but her fighting crew gave no signs of surrender. Shot 
after shot struck the Spaniard's hull until it was riddled 
like a sieve. Shell after shell struck her upper decks, 



366 dewey's triumph at Manila. 

until under the awful fire all of her upper guns were 
useless; but there were no signs of surrender. The 
main deck crew escaped, but the captain and his officers 
clung to the wreck. On the lower deck her gun crews 
stuck to their posts like the heroes they were. As shot 
after shot struck the shivering hulk, still her lower guns 
answered back as best they might ; it seemed as though 
it was impossible to kill her. At last we noticed her in 
the throes, that sickening unmistakable lurch of a sink- 
ing ship. Her commander noticed it too, still there was 
no surrender. Instead, he nailed the Spanish ensign to 
what was left of the mast, and the Don Antonio d'Ulloa 
went down, not only with her colors flying, but also with 
her lower guns still roaring defiance. Just as the pic- 
ture of the Ulloa's end is luridly bright, so that of 
another ship is gloomily dark. For the sake of her gal- 
lant mates, this ship shall be nameless. She had hauled 
down her colors about the same time that the Ulloa had 
refused to do so, and had gone down with them all aflut- 
ter. A boat's crew from the McCulloch was signaled to 
go and take possession of this ship, when to our amaze- 
ment she opened fire on the approaching gig. The en- 
sign stood up in the stern in open-mouthed wonder at 
such a piece of treachery, but kept his boat along her 
course. The incident had not passed unobserved by the 
squadron, however, and the Spaniard's fate was a swift 
one. There was no need for the Commodore to fly a 
signal, for it was as with a common impulse that every 
one of our vessels stopped firing at the enemy in general, 
and directed every available shot at that Spaniard in 
particular. The bay leaped up and foamed around the 
traitorous vessel as though it had been struck by the 
whip-end of a Texas tornado, and when the waters were 
at rest again the Spaniard had vanished as completely 



Dewey's triumph at Manila. 369 

as though that tornado had carried her bodily into a 
neighboring State." 

At 12. 20 P. M. the signal, "We surrender!" was 
shown from Cavite. The dazzling work was done, the 
battle ended after five hours of spectacular fighting. 
His work of destruction completed, Dewey now turned 
to a task of mercy — that of rescuing and caring for the 
vanquished. These he established in hospitals on shore. 
To Admiral Montojo he sent the following message: 
" I have pleasure in clasping your hand and offering 
my congratulations on the gallant manner in which you 
fought." 

Dewey had seen hot work before. He received his 
''baptism of fire" in the old steam-sloop Mississippi, 
under Farragut, in the early days of the civil war. But 
he had never been called to confront such problems as 
came with the responsibility of victory. He had crushed 
the naval power of Spain in the East. But the Spanish 
army lay intact in Manila, whose conquest was desirable, 
but impossible without an army to occupy the place. 
Manila could not resist a bombardment, but the Spanish 
commander could and did refuse to withdraw unless 
driven out by the guns of the fleet, which would have 
slaughtered the innocent and destroyed the private prop- 
erty of a colony composed of many nationalities. 

Dewey, in this trying emergency, proved that he pos- 
sessed not only the sterling qualities of the born warrior, 
but incomparable abilities as a statesman and diploma- 
tist. He feared that his countrymen might receive an 
untruthful account of the battle from Spanish sources, 
and knew of the anxieties that would ensue from only an 
inkling of the events of that historic day. He, there- 
fore, made an effort to overawe the Spanish Captain- 
General, and by securing the surrender of the city, 



370 dewey's triumph at Manila. 

which was at his mercy, obtain access to the cable. The 
British Consul had hurried to the fleet so soon as the 
destruction of the Spanish ships was an accomplished 
fact, and Dewey made use of him to send Captain- 
General Augusti word that the city of Manila was in a 
state of blockade ; that the United States forces would oc- 
cupy Cavite ; that if a single shot were fired at the fleet, 
he would destroy everything within range ; and that if 
he were not permitted to use the cable, he would cut it. 
The telegraph company expressed their desire to have 
the cable then neutralized, but the Captain-General per- 
emptorily refused the transaction. Hence, as he could 
not use the line himself. Commodore Dewey cut it, and 
thenceforth could communicate with Washington only 
by way of Hong Kong, 600 miles away. 

On the day following the engagement, Dewey sent 
Commander Lamberton to take possession of the arsenal 
at Cavit^, which had hoisted a white flag the day before. 
As this officer approached the landing, on the Petrel, he 
saw with dismay that the white flag was no longer 
flying. The open places could be seen crowded with 
troops and many evidences of belligerency in the atti- 
tude of the men. Apprehensive of treachery. Com- 
mander Lamberton got into a launch with Commander 
Wood, leaving orders that if they were not back in an 
hour to open fire (Jn the arsenal. On landing, the two 
officers asked to be conducted to the Commander. This 
proved to be a Captain Sostoa, who informed Lamberton 
that the Admiral had retired to Manila, and that he, 
Sostoa, was in charge. " May I ask. Captain," said 
Lamberton, " why your men are under arms after yester- 
day's surrender ? " 

" There was no surrender," replied Sostoa. 

" But," said Lamberton, "the white flag was hoisted." 



DEWEY's triumph at MANILA. 371 

" Yes," retorted Sostoa, " but not as a surrender, only 
as a token of truce during whicli we might remove our 
women and children to a place of safety." 

"But, Captain," said Lamberton, "an arsenal is not 
exactly the place for women and children in times of 
war. They should have been removed before the bom- 
bardment began." 

" Ah, well, you see," said Captain Sostoa with a shrug, 
" j^'ou Americans came in to visit us at such an ex- 
tremely early hour that we had no time to remove our 
women and children. If you had begun to fight at a less 
unseasonable hour " 

" Excuse me, Captain," said Lamberton. " You fired 
the first shot. But there is no use talking of past events, 
nor is it my place to do so. I am sent here as a repre- 
sentative of Commodore Dewey, of the United States 
Asiatic squadron, to take possession of this arsenal, and 
my further instructions are that all Spaniards, whom I 
find here, must surrender their arms and persons as 
prisoners of war. If this is not done and done quickly, 
the engagement will be renewed." 

To this Sostoa replied that he could do nothing with- 
out consulting his superior. 

" But we will regard you as sufficiently representa- 
tive," Lamberton rejoined. Then the Spaniard requested 
that the terms of the surrender might be put down in 
writing. Lamberton glanced at his watch. Forty of 
the sixty minutes had elapsed, and in twenty more the 
Petrel's guns would be banging away, and while Lam- 
berton and Wood knew very well what the issue of the 
new fight would be, so far as the fleet and the arsenal 
were concerned, their own predicament would be rather 
anomalous. Lamberton wrote down these terms . 

" Without further delay all Spanish officers and men 



372 dewey's triumph at Manila. 

must be withdrawn, and no buildings or stores must be 
injured. As Commodore Dewey does not wish further 
hostility with the Spanish naval forces, the Spanish offi- 
cers will be paroled, and the forces at the arsenal will 
deliver all their small arms." 

The conversation had been in Spanish, but as the 
conditions were written in English, Sostoa wanted them 
translated and clearly explained. 

Again Lamberton looked at his watch. Five minutes 
of the hour only remained. 

"Excuse me, Captain," he said, " but there is an abso- 
lute reason why I should return at once to the vessel. I 
will give you until noon, and if on that hour the white 
flag is not again hoisted over this arsenal, we shall again 
open fire." 

They reached the landing and the launch just in 
time, for as they put off from the steps they could see 
the men moving into position around the Petrel's guns, 
preparatory to opening fire. 

Captain Sostoa did not wait for noon, but hoisted the 
white flag at a quarter of 1 1 ; and when Lamberton re- 
turned to take possession, he found that the captain had 
marched off to Manila with every man, and that every 
man had taken his rifle. 

On May 3d the Raleigh and Baltimore secured the 
surrender of the batteries on Corregidor Island, paroling 
the garrison and destroying the guns. On the morning 
of May 4th the transport Manila, which had been 
aground in Bakor Bay, was towed off and made a 
prize. 

Commodore Dewey's report gave the following re- 
garding the Spanish warships : " The Spanish lost the 
following vessels: Sunk — Reina Christina, Castilla, 
Don Antonio de Ulloa. Burned — Don Juan de Austria, 



Dewey's triumph at Manila. 373 

Isla de Luzon, Isla de Cuba, General Lezo, Marquis del 
Duero, El Correo, Velasco, and Isla de Mandinao (trans- 
port). Captured — Rapido and Hercules (tugs), and 
several small launches. I am unable to obtain complete 
accounts of the enemy's killed and wounded, but believe 
their losses to be very heavy. The Reina Christina 
alone had one hundred and iifty killed, including the 
captain, and ninety wounded." 

Continuing his report Dewey said : " I am happy to 
report that the dainage done to the squadron under 
my command was inconsiderable. There were none 
killed and only seven men in the squadron very slightly 
wounded. Several of the vessels were struck, and even 
penetrated, but the damage was of the slightest, and 
the squadron is in as good condition now as before the 
battle. 

" I beg to state to the Department that I doubt if any 
commander-in-chief was ever served by more loyal, efi&- 
cient, and gallant captains than those of the squadron 
now under my command. Captain Frank Wilde, com- 
manding the Boston, volunteered to remain in command 
of his vessel, although his relief arrived before leaving 
Hong Kong. Assistant Surgeon Kindleberger, of the 
Olympia, and Gunner J. C. Evans, of the Boston, also 
volunteered to remain after orders detaching them had 
arrived. 

" The conduct of my personal staff was excellent. 
Commander B. F. Lamberton, chief of staff, was a vol- 
unteer for that position, and gave me most efficient aid. 
Lieutenant Brumby, flag lieutenant, and Ensign W. P. 
Scott, aide, performed their duties as signal officers in a 
highly creditable manner. The Olympia being short of 
officers for the battery, Ensign H. H. Caldwell, flag sec- 
retary, volunteered, and was assigned to a sub-division 

22 



374 



DEWEY S TRIUMPH AT MANILA. 



of the five-inch battery. J. L. Stickney, formerly an 
officer in the United States navy, volunteered for duty 
as my aide, and rendered valuable services. I desire 
specially to mention the coolness of Lieutenant C G. 
Calkins, the navigator of the Olympia, who came under 
my personal observation, being on the bridge with me 
throughout the entire action, and giving the ranges to 
the guns with an accuracy that was proven by the excel- 
lence of the firing." 

The news of Dewey's action at Manila was received 
with great joy all over the United States, and on the 
day the news was received the Secretary of the Navy 
sent the following message, along Math a confidential dis- 
patch to the Commander-in-chief of the Asiatic squadron: 

" Washington, May 7th. 
" Dewey, Manila: 

" The President, in the name of the American people, 
thanks j^ou and your of&cers and men for your splendid 
achievement and overwhelming victory. In recognition 
he has appointed you an Acting Admiral, and will recom- 
mend a vote of thanks to you by Congress. Long." 

The thanks of Congress were promptly voted, with 
a sword for Commodore Dewey, and a medal for each 
officer and man who took part in the engagement. Con- 
gress also increased the number of Rear-Admirals from 
six to seven, so that the President might appoint Dewey 
a Rear-Admiral, which was done at once, and the ap- 
pointment confirmed by the Senate. 

Although Dewey's vessels were more powerful than 
those of the Spanish Navy, he had the disadvantage of 
advancing into strange waters, where shoals existed, and 
where, for all he knew, death-dealing torpedoes and mines 
were laid. In fact, two of the latter were exploded in 
front of the squadron, but so hurriedly as to do no 



DEWEY S TRIUMPH AT MANILA. 375 

harm. He had also the shore batteries to contend 
against, which made the opposing weight of metal more 
than equal to his. " The Spanish admiral " says a 
contemporary journal, " though he must have been 
aware that the American squadron was somewhere in 
the vicinity, could not bring himself to believe that 
the American commodore would have the audacity to 
steam into a mined harbor in the night time, with forts 
on both sides, and the Spanish squadron ready to re- 
ceive him. But Dewey took the chances, and his being 
beforehand was half the victory. Many men, equally 
as brave in action, would have delayed to reconnoitre, 
and thereby have given time for the enemy to make 
additional preparations to receive him. 

In consequence of Dewey's disregard of possible dan- 
ger, he found the Spanish ships in a cramped position 
where they could best be attacked. 

There is also another thing to be noticed about the 
engagement at Manila Bay, and that is in regard to tor- 
pedo boats. It certainly seems that they are not the 
danger they are supposed to be, if used in daylight. 
Two of the Spanish torpedo boats from Cavite were di- 
rected against the Olympia, and w^ere seen as soon as 
they started. They escaped several large projectiles 
directed at them by the great guns of the flag-ship, but 
they were easily destroyed when the six-pounder rapid 
firers got trained upon them. In daylight the torpedo 
boat is no longer to be feared. What a night attack 
will do, under the glare of the search lights, is more 
uncertain. For harbor defense torpedo boats may be 
very useful, but they are too wearing, on both officers 
and men, for any prolonged sea service. 

Dewey's action has taught us several things, for, ex- 
cept the Japan-China war, there had been no fighting 



376 Dewey's triumph at Manila. 

with the new ships, and Dewey's victory was a glorious 
one in its conduct and its results. It has also been use- 
ful in teaching the nations what they did not know be- 
fore, and in impressing more strongly what they had 
some apprehension of. It showed that originality and 
dash, after careful planning and adequate preparation, 
will generally succeed. With several fortified positions 
on shore the advantage should have certainly been with 
the Spanish forces, but in spite of the great risk that 
every officer and every man must have known was be- 
ing taken, ** there was not a faint heart in all that 
squadron, but an enthusiasm and esprit du corps that 
could not but win with such a leader." 

As far as a naval action went, that at Manila was a 
"clean cut" thing. Nothing can take away from the 
small, well-drilled, well-manned and well-officered East 
Indian Squadron the credit they have so thoroughly 
well earned. 

Rear Admiral Dewey was bom in Montpelier, Vt., in 
1838. Dr. Julius Y. Dewey, the father of the admiral, 
was a cultured gentleman of the old school, honored for 
his stalwart integrity and stem force of character. 
Admiral Dewey's mother was celebrated - throughout 
Vermont, her native state, for remarkable beauty of 
person and grace of manner. 

The handsome colonial mansion in Montpelier was 
long a center of New England hospltalit}^, and the 
Deweys were paramount among the first families of 
Vermont: 

When Dewey was fourteen years old, a desire for a 
sea-faring life took possession of him, but his father did 
not take kindly to the thought of his son's becoming a 
saildir ; so a compromise was effected, and young Dewey 
left the Montpelier public school and entered the Nor- 



DEWEY S TRIUMPH AT MANILA. ;>79 

vvich University at Northfield, Vt. This being a mili- 
tary school the youthful enthusiasm of the boy was 
temporarily appeased by musket practice and drill ; b-ut 
after two years had passed, Dr. Dew^e}^ decided that if 
his son must follow the sea, he should do so in a man- 
ner consistent with the Dewey stock. 

An appointment to the Naval Academy placed the 
future Admiral at Annapolis in 1858. Upon his grad- 
uation, in 1858, he cruised for a few years as midship- 
man on the steam frigate Swatara in the Mediterranean 
and then returned to Montpelier, 

On April 19, 1861, Dewey was commissioned Lieu- 
tenant, and for two years served on the steam sloop 
Misissippi, taking part in the action of the West Gulf 
Squadron. The Missisippi grounded, and was riddled 
by the shore batteries at Port Hudson. The officers and 
men were landed on the opposite side by boats ; Captain 
Smith and Lieutenant Dewey being the last to leave 
the ship. In 1863 the young Lieutenant was in the 
thick of the fight with the gunboats that met the Confede- 
rates below Donaldsonville, and subsequently served on 
the steam gunboat Agawam, Captain Rhind, of the 
North Atlantic Squadron, and participated in two attacks 
on Fort Fisher in 1 864-1 865. 

Dewey was commissioned Lieutenant Commander 
March 3, 1865, and a year later became executive ofiicer 
of the famous Kearsarge. He also served on the 
frigate Colorado, flagship of the European Squadron. 

On returning to the United States in 1868, he was 
detailed for duty at Annapolis, remaining for two years. 

Dewey received his first command — the Narragan- 
sett — in 1870, and was engaged in special service till 
1875, two years of which he had charge of the Pacific 
Survv-y. Meantime lie became a Commander. 



380 DEWEy's triumph at MANILA. 

Commander Dewey became Liglit House Inspector in 
1876, and was Secretary of the Light House Board from 
1877 to 1882, when he was assigned to the command 
of the Juniata, of the Asiatic Squadron. In 1884 he 
was promoted to be Captain, and took command of the 
Dolphin, one of the first craft of the new Navy, and 
afterwards of the Pensacola, flagship of the European 
Squadron. 

In 1888 Captain Dewey served as Chief of the Bureau 
of Equipment and Recruiting, with rank of Commodore. 
He was commissioned Commodore February 28, 1896. 
From 1893 to 1895 Commodore Dewey was a member 
of the Light House Board. In 1896 and 1897, he was 
President of the Inspection and Survey Board. On 
November 30, 1897, he was assigned to the command, 
of the Asiatic Squadron, and assumed his duties January 

3, 1898. 

In recognition of his splendid achievement at IManila, 
Commodore Dewey was appointed a Rear Admiral in 
May, 1898. 

Admiral Dewe}^ married the daughter of the cele- 
brated Governor Goodwin, War Governor of New Hamp- 
shire — a fighter of the old school. Mrs. Dewey did not 
long survive the birth of her only son, George Goodwin 
Dewey. 

Admiral Dewey made his home in Washington after 
his wife's death. He was fond of horseback exercise, 
being never without a thoroughbred animal, ' and 
he treated them with a considerate kindness that was 
characteristic of the man. 

Admiral Dewey was an early riser, and spent most of 
his time in the public service. He was temperate to the 
degree of abstemiousness. He was Life President of the 
Metropolitan Club, of Washington, member of the Uui- 



Dewey's triumph at Manila. 38i 

versit}^ Club, of New York, and for some time a mem- 
ber of the Somerset Club, of Boston. During bis ear- 
lier residence in Washington, he was a member of the 
Maryland Hunting Club, but later his active public ser- 
vice prevented him indulging his taste for gunning. 

Admiral Dewey's son said of him: "Father has always 
been an extremely active man. He has been a lifelong 
student of everything connected with the sea. He is a 
constant reader, but in his studies he seldom goes out- 
side of nautical science, or some collateral branch, such 
as Naval History. He made a study of harbors, too, 
and is a thorough geographer. I attribute his success 
at Manila in part to his knowledge of the harbor. He 
undoubtedly knew just what he was doing and where he 
was going when he made that midnight dash whicli 
seems to be so amazing to people who don't know him. 
He knows how to navigate ; he never carried a pilot 
all the time he was captain. He did his own navigat- 
ing. 

"Then, too, father had every confidence in his men, 
and the feeling was reciprocal, which was another strong 
element that contributed to his success. He knew 
what they could do. The cardinal principle of my 
father has been : Whatever is worth doing is worth 
doing well.' " 

This was the keynote of the life of George Dewe}-, 
whose name in a day was placed with those of John Paul 
Jones, Decatur, Farragut, and others who have shone id 
Naval History. 



NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 




HE world knew on the 20tli day of April, 1898, 
that the American-Spanish War was now 
surely at hand. Congress had passed a joint 
resolution demanding that Spain immediately 
withdraw her forces from Cuba ; and Presi- 
dent McKinley had promptly signed the 
document and cabled it to Minister Woodford 
for presentation to the Spanish Government. 
Spain haughtily rejected this ultimatum, 
which gave her the choice of peace or war, and defiantly 
threw down the gage of battle. Our government at Washing- 
ton promptly took it up. 

Acting Rear-Adiniral Sampson, then at Key West, was 
given instructions to "capture or destroy" every ship that 
Spain had in Cuban waters ; and to establish a blockade as 
contemplated in the plan of campaign as mapped out at 
Washington. 

It was clear to all that it would be mainly a contest on the 
seas, and this meant another chapter in the Naval History of 
our country. 

Although Spain had, at that time, a total of some fifty 
ships, big and little, distributed in Cuban waters, no doubt 
existed in official circles as to Sampson's ample preparation 
and ability to carry out his instructions. 

Backed up with a liberal appropriation by Congress, the 
Navy Department, under the efficient guidance of Secretary 
Long, had been buying, at home and abroad, such vessels as 
would strengthen our fighting-power on the seas. 

Accordingly Admiral Sampson, following the President's 
instructions, led his fleet out from Key West in the early 
morning of April 226. and headed for Havana. 

His squadron comprised the cruiser New York, as flagship, 
the Iowa, Indiana, Puritan, Newark, Detroit, Marblehead, 
(382) 



NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 383 

Helena, Dupont, Terror, dishing, Osceola, Uncas, Porter, 
Nashville, and other members of the auxiliary fleet. It was 
not long before the first gun of the war was heard ! Captain 
Maynard of the Nashville, in speaking of the capture, said : 

" We had proceeded under orders from the flagship, and were 
about twenty miles from Key West, when, at ten minutes 
past seven o'clock, the watch reported a strange craft on the 
port side. We made it out to be a Spanish freighter, though 
no flag was flying. No answer was given to our signals, and 
the stranger was seen to be in full flight. 

"Admiral Sampson ordered us to make the capture, and 
Patrick Mullen, a gunner, was ordered to fire a 6-pounder 
over her bow. The stranger made no answer to this, except 
to increase her speed. With that another shot was sent 
within fifty feet of the Spaniard, who, seeing it was sink or 
surrender, chose the latter alternative, and hove to." 

The blockading squadron arrived ofi" Havana that evening 
and the various vessels took their position as assigned. 

On the following day the flagship New York captured 
another Spanish merchantman off" Havana ; and the Porter 
and Helena took the Mathilde and Miguel Jover, respectively. 
Four Spanish prizes were taken in the C alf of Mexico on the 
24th, and on the succeeding day the little Mangrove captured 
the big steamship Panama off Havana. Two more Spanish 
prizes were taken on the 26th ; two by the monitor Terror 
on the 27th, and one each by the Newport and Nashville on 
the 29th. 

The frequent capture of prizes served for a while to relieve 
the daily routine. But this pacific blockade, the task of 
guarding Havana Harbor against the "ships that never 
came," soon grew irksome to the personnel oi the fleet, and 
yet this could not be safely avoided. Precipitate action at 
that time would have been unwise, to say the least. Foreign 
intervention then seemed altogether possible. And any 
serious reverses to our arms might have stimulated the Conti- 
nental Powers to complicate the situation. The Fabian policy 
of the Blockading Squadron was justified by events. While 
we were daily growing stronger, Spain was wasting away. 



384 NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 

We had everything to gain and nothing to lose by cautious 
movements and further preparation. Time was our ally. 
And in those days of waiting, the plans were wrought out foi 
the brilliant achievements so soon to follow. 

DEEDS OF HEROISM. 

Only a few years ago, the days for romantic daring and 
the chances for individual heroism were considered to have 
departed from naval warfare forever. Men-of-war were be- 
coming simply big fighting machines, manned largely by 
engineers and machinists, it was said, and the possibility of 
a display of personal daring was precluded by the manner in 
which they were to fight. 

But there has been a change in this respect, largely brought 
about by the introduction into the American navy of numbers 
of that class of craft known as torpedo-boats, and the conver- 
sion of high-powered ocean-going tugs and swift steam yachts 
into auxiliary gunboats. 

These additions to the navy are generally commanded by a 
Lieutenant, and are therefore under the direction of young 
meUjithe pick of the navy — men of daring, steady nerves and 
cool judgment. 

The spirit that made the American navy illustrious in 
former wars, was not wanting in the conflict between the 
United States and Spain, and young naval officers welcomed 
the war for the opportunities of daring and heroism, which 
open the doors to fame and promotion. 

THE RESCUE OF THE WINSLOW. 

A signal act of heroism was the rescue of the torpe- 
do-boat Winslow, by the auxiliary gunboat Hudson, com- 
manded by Lieutenant Frank H. Newcomb, in Cardenas 
Bay, on May 11, 1898. 

Three days previously, Lieutenant Bernadou, in the 
Winslow, while quietly making a reconnoissance in Carde- 
nas Bay, under the early morning haze^ was fired upon by 
three Spanish gunboats from behind the shelter of man- 



NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATEES. 335 

grove clumps and one of the smaller islands in the bay. 
The Winslow engaged the Spaniards with her one-pound 
guns, receiving a furious fire of six-inch shells in 
return. 

The engagement was spirited on both sides , but the rapid 
and galling fire of the torpedo-boat soon disabled one of the 
Spanish gunboats, which was taken in tow by her consorts, 
and all three retreated to a position where they could not be 
followed, because of mines and torpedoes. 

It was for the purpose of attacking these gunboats that 
the Cruiser Wilmington, the Hudson and the Winslow en- 
tered Cardenas Bay on the afternoon of May 11. The Span- 
ish vessels were lying at the docks when the Wilmington and 
Hudson opened fire upon them. When the Winslow approach- 
ed within range, the gunboats, supported by the shore batter- 
ies, concentrated their fire upon her, pouring in a terrific 
storm of shells. The Winslow plied her guns in return un- 
til struck by a solid shot which disabled her boiler, causing 
her to roll and drift helplessly. 

At the fierce cheers of triumph which arose from the Span- 
ish crews, the Hudson dashed in to the assistance of her 
wounded consort and endeavored to throw a line to her 
imperiled crew. With the exception of the single shot that 
disabled the Winslow' s boiler, the Spanish fire had been wild, 
but as the torpedo-boat lay rolling in the water, it im- 
proved. 

Finally, after trying in vain for twenty minutes, the Hud- 
son was able to approach near enough to throw a line 
to the Winslow. The fire from the Spaniards was terrific ; 
shells were exploding all about. "Heave her, heave her," 
shouted Ensign Bagley from the deck of the Winslow. 
"Don't miss it," came from an officer on the Hudson. "Let 
her come. It's getting too hot here for comfort," Bagley 
shouted back, with a smile. At the instant the line was 
thrown, a shell burst in the very midst of the little group on 
the Winslow. Ensign Bagley was instantly killed, others fell 
groaning oi| the blood-stained deck. Helpless and disabled, 
the Winslow swayed under the murderous fire of the Spanish 



386 NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 

gunboats; another clieer came from the Spaniards, and the 
rain of shell fell faster. Still in danger of going aground in 
the shallow water, the Hudson succeeded in getting a line 
aboard the Winslow and started to tow her out of the deadly 
fire; the line parted, and both boats were again at the mercy 
of the Spanish fire. Finally, another line from the Hudson 
was gotten to the deck of the torpedo-boat, but there were 
only three men left there to make it fast. The Winslow 
was towed to Pedras Island and anchored with her dead and 
wounded on her decks. Later in the day the Hudson con- 
veyed the dead and wounded to Key West. 

Besides Ensign Bagley, the first to fall in the war, font 
others of the crew of the Winslow were killed, and five, in- 
cluding Lieutenant Bernadou, were wounded. Lieutenant 
John Baptiste Bernadou, the intrepid commander of the Win- 
slow, is one of the most daring and venturesome young 
officers in the naval service, and an expert at torpedo work. 
He watched the building of the Winslow from the time her 
keel was laid until her trial trip, as inspector in charge, and 
took command of her upon her acceptance by the Government. 

Ensign Worth Bagley was a native of North Carolina, 
and graduated from the Naval Academy July 30, 1897. He 
was appointed an ensign on the day following and assigned 
to duty on the Indiana. In August, he was transferred to 
the ill-fated Maine where he remained until November 23, 
when he was ordered to duty in connection with the Winslow, 
which was under construction at that time. When she was 
completed and put in commission in December, he was 
attached to her, and remained so until the moment of his 
death. Ensign Bagley was a dashing officer, and one of the 
most popular of the young commisioned officers of the navy. 

A special message to Congress from President McKinley, 
on June 27, 1898, contained the following : 

" On the nth day of May, 1898, there occurred a conflict 
in the Bay of Cardenas, Cuba, in which the naval torptdo- 
boat Winslow was disabled, her commander wounded and 
one of her ofiScers and a part of her crew killed by the 
enemy's fire. 



NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 389 

" In the face of a most galling fire from the enemy's guns, 
the revenue cutter Hudson, commanded by First Lieuten- 
ant Frank H. Newcomb, United States revenue cutter service, 
rescued the disabled Winslow, her wounded commander and 
remaining crew. The commander of the Hudson kept his 
vessel in the very hottest fire of the action, although in con- 
stant danger of going ashore on account of the shallow water, 
until he finally got a line made fast to the Winslow and 
towed that vessel out of range of the enemy's guns, a deed 
of special gallantry. 

* ' I recommend that in recognition of the signal act of 
heroism of First Lieutenant Frank H. Newcomb, United 
States revenue cutter service, above set forth, the thanks of 
Congress be extended to him and to his officers and men 
of the Hudson, and that a gold medal of honor be pre- 
sented to Lieutenant Newcomb, a silver medal of honor to 
each of his officers and a bronze medal of honor to each 
member of his crew who served with him at Cardenas. 

The sequel to the disaster at Cardenas, may be briefly told, 
and not inappropriately termed avenging the Winslow's dead. 
On May 12, the Wilmington returned to the coast and keys 
off Cardenas, and with a sudden and effective fire, swept that 
city bare of defences. The masked battery and the forts 
were torn to atoms ; two gunboats and two schooners were 
riddled and sunk, and the blockhouse burned. Men and 
guns in the battery that surprised the Winslow, were blown 
into the air by the terrific fire of the Wilmington. 

CUTTING CABLES. 

The following account of how bluejackets performed theii 
duty under conditions of almost certain death, shows the 
stuff of which the United States Navy is made. 

On May 11, 1898, the cruiser Marblehead, the gunboat 
Nashville and the auxiliary cruiser Windom steamed to a 
point near the harbor of Cienfuegos, on the south coast of 
Cuba, underordersto cut the cables connecting Havana with 
Santiago de Cuba. 



390 NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 

The expedition was successful, but for nearly three hours the 
men worked under the very shadow of death without flinching. 

It was in the early morning when four boats, commanded 
by Lieutenant Winslow of the Nashville and Lieutenant 
Anderson of the Marblehead began this perilous task. Each 
officer was in command of a cutter and a launch manned 
by volunteers. The launches had one-inch rapid fire guns 
in the bows, and the cutters were equipped with grappling 
irons and appliances for raising the cables 

Near the mouth of the harbor, which winds about between 
high hills, the ground is low and covered with tall grass 
and underbrush ; behind, towers a sharp bluff covered with 
trees. Within a few feet of the water was the cablehouse, 
with a lighthouse on one side and a blockhouse or lookout 
on the other. 

Before the boats were sent in, the Nashville opened her 
fire at the Spanish defences which could be plainly dis- 
tinguished, and the Marblehead and Windom joined in the 
shelling of the rifle pits, which were at the very water's 
edge, driving the Spaniards to the shelter of the lighthouse, 
from which point of vantage they opened fire upon the 
boats, which were now grappling for the cables. " Cut it 
down," came from the bridge of the Marblehead, and with 
marvelous precision, the great guns at a range of 1000 yards, 
and with a heavy sea rolling, bit off piece after piece until 
the small house around the base of the tower and the tower 
itself were a mass of ruins. The markmanship was superb; 
clouds of dust and debris flew high in the air as the cable- 
house crumbled under the fire of the Nashville ; a crash 
from the Marblehead and the blockhouse was torn to atoms. 

Meanwhile, the boats were working in the face of the 
terrific shore fire, and under the iron storm from the ships 
that was sweeping the hillside. The men in the boats 
worked steadily and in silence while a hurricane of shell 
shrieked over their heads. In the height of the fire one 
cable was hauled up and one hundred and fifty feet cut out 
of it. The work was slow and laborious, but the nerve of 
the men showed splendidly. 



NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. ^91 

The strong current compelled the oarsmen to keep steadily 
at work, while part of the crew grappled for the cable. 
Sailors at the oars, when struck by bullets, rowed until they 
fell from loss of blood, and under a canopy of shot and shell 
the dead and wounded were transferred to other boats. Then 
the second cable was discovered and brought to the surface ; 
eighty feet of the tough steel wires were hacked off by 
axes and chisels, and search for the third cable was begun, 
but the boats were unable to locate it. This was a smaller 
cable, running east to a local point. Still under fire, the 
boats withdrew from the scene of their heroic exploit, were 
picked up by the ships, and the dead and living were lifted 
to the decks of the ships to which they belonged. 

Patrick Reagan, seaman of the Marblehead, was killed 
and five other seamen were badly wounded. Lieutenant 
Cameron McR. Winslow, who had command of the expedi- 
tion, was shot in the hand. He was a member of the 
famous naval family of that name. He graduated from the 
Naval Academy in 1875 and subsequently was in service in 
all parts of the world. He was the first commander of the 
torpedo-boat Gushing, and was ordered to duty on the Nash- 
ville in October, 1896. 

HOBSON AND THE MERRIMAC. 

So long as stories of man's heroism endure, the daring 
exploit of Lieutenant Hobson and his associates will be 
told. 

Lieutenant Richmond P. Hobson, of the flagship New 
York, with a volunteer crew of seven men, shortly after 
3 o'clock on the morning of June 3, 1898, ran the collier Mer^ 
rimac into the throat of the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, 
swung her broadside to across the channel, and then exploded 
and sank her. He succeeded in this desperate enterprisft 
under the fire of the batteries and forts which guarded thQ 
entrance, without support from the fleet. 

In his official report of this blocking of Santiago Harbor, 
Admiral Sampson said : 



392 NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 

*' Permit me to call your special attention to Assistant 
Naval Constructor Hobson. As stated in a special telegram 
before coming here, I decided to make the harbor entrance 
secure against the possibility of egress by Spanish ships 
by obstructing the narrow part of the entrance by sinking 
a collier at that point. 

" Upon calling upon Mr. Hobson for his professional 
opinion as to a sure method of sinking the ship, he mani- 
fested the most lively interest in the problem. After several 
days' consideration he presented a solution which he con- 
sidered would insure the immediate sinking of the ship 
when she reached the desired point in the channel. 

" This plan we prepared for execution when we reached 
Santiago. The plan contemplated a crew of only seven men 
and Mr. Hobson, who begged that the work might be 
entrusted to him. The anchor chains were arranged on deck 
for both the anchors, forward and aft, the plan including 
the anchoring of the ship almost automatically. 

"As soon as I reached Santiago I had the collier put to 
work. The details were completed and diligently prose- 
cuted, hoping to complete them in one day, as the moon 
and tide served best the first night after our arrival. Not- 
withstanding, the hour of 4 o'clock in the morning arrived 
and preparation was scarcely completed. After a careful 
inspection of the final preparations, I was forced to relinquish 
the plan for that morning, as dawn was breaking. 

" Mr. Hobson begged to try the plan at all hazards. 

"This morning proved more propitious, as a prompt 
start was made. Nothing could have been more gallantly 
executed. We waited impatiently after the firing by the 
Spaniards had ceased. When Hobson and his men did 
not reappear from the harbor at 6 o'clock I feared that 
they had all perished. A steam launch which had been sent 
in charge of Naval Cadet Powell to rescue the men appeared 
at this time, coming out under a persistent fire of the bat- 
teries, but it brought none of the crew. 

" A careful inspection of the harbor from the ship showed 
that the vessel Merrimac had been sunk in the channel. 



NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 393 

" This afternoon the Chief of Staff of Admiral Cervera 
came out under a flag of truce with a letter from the Admiral 
extolling the bravery of the crew in an unusual manner. I 
cannot myself too earnestly express my appreciation of the 
conduct of Mr. Hobson and his gallant crew. 

" I venture to say that a more brave and daring thing 
has not been done since Gushing blew up the Albemarle. 

"Referring to the inspiring letter which you addressed 
to the officers at the beginning of the war, I am sure yo 
will offer a suitable professional reward to Mr. Hobson and 
his companions. 

" I must add that Commander J. N. Miller relinquished 
his command with the very greatest reluctance, believing 
he would retain his command under all circumstances. He 
was, however, finally convinced that the attempt of another 
person to carry out the multitude of details which had been 
in preparation by Mr. Hobson might endanger its proper exe- 
cution. I, therefore, took the liberty to relieve him, for this 
reason only. There were hundreds of volunteers who were 
anxious to participate. There were 150 from the Iowa, 
nearly as many from the New York and large numbers 
from all the other ships, officers and men alike. " 

Words cannot paint the live, matter of fact heroism of the 
men who successfully accomplished this audacious under- 
taking. Just before leaving the flagship. Lieutenant Hobson 
said of his plans : 

i' I shall go right into the harbor until about 400 yards 
past the Estrella Battery, which is behind Morro Castle. I do 
not think they can sink me before I reach somewhere near 
that point. The Merrimac has 7000 tons buoyancy, and I shall 
keep her full speed ahead. She can make about ten knots. 

"When the narrowest part of the channel is reached 
I shall put her helm hard aport, stop the engines, drop the 
the anchors, open the sea connections, touch off the torpe- 
does and leave the Merrimac a wreck, lying athwart the 
channel, which is not as broad as the Merrimac is long. 
There are ten eight-inch improvised torpedoes below the 
water line on the Merrimac' s port side. 
23 



394 NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 

"They are placed on her side against the bulkheads and 
vital spots, connected with each other by a wire under the 
ship's keel. Each torpedo contains eighty-two pounds of 
gunpowder. Each torpedo is also connected with the bridge, 
and they should do their work in a minute, and it will be 
quick work even if done in a minute and a quarter. 

"On deck there will be four men and myself. In the 
engine room there will be the other two. This is the total 
crew, and all of us will be in our under-clothing, with re- 
volver and amiinition in watertight packing strapped around 
our waists. Forward there will be a man on deck and around 
his waist will be a line, the other end of the line being made 
fast to the bridge, where I shall stand. 

"By that man's side will be an ax. When I stop the 
engines I shall jerk this cord and he will thus get the signal 
to cut the lashing which will be holding the forward anchor. 
He will then jump overboard and swim to the four-oared 
dingy which we shall tow astern. The dingy is full of life- 
buoys and is unsinkable. In it are rifles. It is to be held by 
two ropes, one made fast at her bow and one at her stern. 

The first man to reach her will haul in the towline and 
pull the dingy out to starboard. The next to leave the ship 
are the rest of the crew. The quarter-master at the wheel 
will not leave until after having put it hard aport and lashed 
it so; he will then jump overboard. 

"Down below, the man at the reversing gear will stop the 
engines, scramble up on deck and get over the side as quickly 
as possible. 

"The man in the engine room will break open the sea con- 
nections with a sledge hammer and will follow his leader into 
the water. This last step insures the sinking of the Merrimac 
whether the torpedoes work or not. 

"By this time, I calculate the six men will be in the dingy 
and the Merrimac will have swung athwart the channel, to 
the full length of her 300 yards of cable, which will have 
been paid out before the anchors were cut loose. 

"Then, all that is left for me is to touch the button. I shall 
stand on the starboard side of the bridge. The explosion will 



NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 



395 



throw the Merrimac on her starboard side; nothing will be 
able to raise her after that. 

"And you expect to come out of this alive?" asked a com- 
panion of the Lieutenant. 

'*Ah, that is another thing," said the Lieutenant. He was 
so interested in the mechanical details of the scheme that he 
scarcely stopped to talk of life and death. But, in reply to 
the frequent questions, Hobson said : — 

"I suppose the Estrella Battery will fire down on us a bit; 
but the ships will throw their searchlights in the gunners' 
faces, and they won't see much of us. Then, if we are torpe- 
doed we should even then be able to make the desired posi. 
tion in the channel. It won't be so easy to hit us, and I think 
the men should be able to swim to the dingy." 

"I may jump before I am blown up. But I don't see that 
it makes much difference what I do. I have a fair chance of 
life either way. If our dingy gets shot to pieces we shall 
then try to swim for the beach right under Morro Castle." 

"We shall keep together at all hazards. Then we may be 
able to make our way alongside, and perhaps get back to the 
ship. We shall fight the sentries or a squad until the last, 
and we shall only surrender to overwhelming numbers, and 
our surrender will only take place as a last and almost uncon- 
templated emergency." 

Ensign Powell of the New York volunteered for a mission 
almost equally as hazardous as that of Hobson's. With six 
men in the 15- ship launch, he patrolled the mouth of the 
harbor to rescue Hobson and his plucky crew, should any 
of them live through the rain of fire that they were to meet, 
and come out of the harbor after the Merrimac had been 
sunk. He pluckily remained until daylight, but was forced 
to return to the flagship under heavy fire from the batteries, 
without seeing a trace of the Merrimac' s crew. 

The great anxiety throughout the fleet for the brave men 
who had taken their lives in their hands, was relieved later 
in the day, when Captain Oviedo, the chief of staff of Ad- 
miral Cervera, Commander of the Spanish fleet, put out of 
the harbor in a boat with a white flag, boarded the flagship 



396 NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 

and informed Admiral Sampson that Hobson and his entire 
party were alive, that they had fallen into the hands of the 
Spaniards, that two were slightly wounded, and offering, in 
recognition of their bravery, to exchange them. 

Both in America and abroad, the highest tributes of praise 
were paid Lieutenant Hobson and his crew. Commodore 
Schley, commander of the flying squadron said: "I watdied 
the Merrimac as she made her way to the entrance of the 
harbor, and my heart sank as I saw the perft^t hali! of fire 
that fell on the devoted men. I did not think it was possible 
one of them could have gone through it alive. They went 
i\ito the jaws of death. It was Balaklava over again, without 
the means of defence which the light brigade had. Hobson 
led a forlorn hope without the power to cut his way out, but 
fr.rtune once more favored the brave, and I hope he will have 
the recognition and promotion he deserves. His name will 
live as long as the heroes of the world are remembered." 

Ex-President Benjamin Harrison said: " The act of Lieu- 
tt.-nant Hobson has few if any parallels in the history of the 
world. Lieutenant Hobson and his heroic crew not only went 
with the Merrimac into the range of an awful fire, unable to 
reply, but the interior of their vessel was loaded with torpe- 
does for her destruction at the proper time. 

"They went in unable to fire one gun at the enemy, and 
prepared to destroy the very deck under their feet. We search 
the pages of history in vain to find some act of heroism for 
country and flag that approaches this." 

President McKinley in a special message to Congress rec- 
ommended Lieutenant Hobson and Ensign Powell for promo- 
tion and vote of thanks. 

As Admiral Sampson declared, this act of Hobson's com. 
pares favorably with that of Cushing in blowing up the 
Albemarle, an account of which will be found in this 
volume. 

The resolutions recommended by the President were adopted 
June 29, tendering the thanks of Congress to Naval Construc- 
tor Hobson and the other heroes of the Merrimac, and the 
actual names of the men who composed the crew were inserted 




CAPTURE OF HOBSON AND THE "MERRIMAC" MEN 
Admiral Cervera and Spanish Marines approaching in a Steam Launch 



NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN WATERS. 399 

in the resolutions, it being the first time that a man not hold 
ing a commission had been thus honored by Congress. 

After several attempts had failed, the exchange of Lieuten- 
ant Hobson and his associates for Spanish prisoners was 
finally effected in the presence of the armies of both nation^, 
in front of Santiago, July 6. Lieutenant Hobson was exchanged 
for Lieutenant Aries of the Spanish army and fourteen Span- 
ish soldiers were given up for Hobson' s associates. 

In the case of Lieutenant Hobson promotion was deferred 
until his wishes could be ascertained, but the men found their 
promotions awaiting them, orders to that effect have been sent 
to Admiral Sampson by the Secretary of the Navy. 

For the first four days, after Lieutenant Hobson and his 
companions were captured, they were confined in Morro Castle 
as naval prisoners ; then they were removed to the Reina 
Mercedes Hospital on the outskirts of Santiago. 

They were aware of the different bombardments of the forts 
and of the battles on land, but had no definite knowledge of 
the results of either. They were well treated by the Span- 
iards. 

After his return to the flagship New York, Lieutenant 
Hobson told the story of the sinking of the Merrimac : 

"I did not miss the entrance to the harbor," he said, 
''as Ensign Powell in the launch supposed. I headed east 
until I got my bearings, and then made for it, straight in. 
Then came the firing. It was grand, flashing out, first from 
one side of the harbor and then from the other, from those 
big guns on the hills. The Vizcaya, lying inside the harbor, 
joined in. 

' ' Troops from Santiago had rushed down when the news 
of the Merrimac's coming was telegraphed, and soldiers lined 
the foot of the cliffs, firing wildly across and killing each 
other with the cross-fire. 

" The Merrimac's steering gear broke as she got to Estrella 
Point. Only three of the torpedoes on her side exploded 
when I touched the button. A huge submarine mine caught 
her full amidships, hurling the water high in the air and 
tearing a great rent in the Merrimac's side. 



400 NAVAL OPERATIONS IN CUBAN A\v -•r£RS. 

"Her stern ran upon Estrella Point. Chiefly owing to 
the work done by the mine, ^he began to sink slowly. At 
that time she w^as across the channel, but before she settled 
the tide drifted her around. 

"We were all aft, lying on the deck. Shells and bullets 
whistled around. Six-inch shells from the Vizcaya came 
tearing into the Merrimac, crashing into wood and iron and 
passing clear through, while the plunging shots from the 
fort broke through her decks. 

" ' Not a man must move,' I said ; and it was only owing 
to the splendid discipline of the men that we were not all 
killed, as the shells rained over us and minutes became hours 
of suspense. 

" The men's mouths grew parched ; but we must lie there 
till daylight, I told them. Now and again one or the other 
of the men lying with his face glued to the deck and won- 
dering whether the next shell would not come our way, would 
say, ' Hadn't we better drop off now, sir?' But I said, ' Wait 
till daylight.' 

" It would have been impossible to get the catamaran any- 
where but on the shore, where the soldiers stood shooting, and 
I hoped that by daylight we might be recognized and saved. 

'* The grand old Merrimac kept sinking. I wanted to go 
forward and see the damage done there, where nearly all the 
fire was directed. One man said that if I rose it would draw 
all the fire on the rest. So I lay motionless. 

" It was splendid the way those men behaved. The fire of 
the soldiers, the batteries of the Vizcaya were awful. When 
the water came up to the Merrimac' s decks the catamaran 
floated amid the wreckage, but she was still made fast to the 
boom, and we caught hold of the edges and clung on, our 
heads only being above water. 

" One man thought we were safer right there. It was quite 
light. The firing had ceased, except that on the New York 
launch, and I feared Ensign Powell and his men had been 
killed." 

Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hobson, assistant naval 
constructor, was born at Greensboro, Alabama, August 17, 



NAVAL OPERATION.S IX CUBAN WATERS. 401 

1870, and was appointed after a competetive examination to 
the Naval Academy in May, 1885. He was the youngest mem- 
ber of his class, but graduated at the head of his eighteen 
companions. 

He studied engineering under the auspices of the United 
States Government in France, and was made assistant naval 
constructor in 1891. He was the author of a semi-political 
pamphlet entitled "The Situation and Outlook in Europe, " 
and was assigned to the flagship New York when Rear Ad- 
miral Sampson sailed for the West Indies. 

Ensign Joseph W. Powell, who took command of the New 
York's steam launch and lay under the batteries for many 
hours until he was satisfied from his own observation that 
the Merrimac had gone down; was known as "One of Hob- 
son's Chickens." When Hobson joined the squadron, he 
secured permission from the authorities to take with him 
three young naval cadets from the Academy at Annapolis. 
Ensign Powell was appointed to the Academy in 1893. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

July 30, 1898. 




HE engagement, off Santiago, between Ad- 
miral Cervera's fleet and Admiral Sampson's 
ships, under the immediate command of Com- 
modore Schley, was one of desperate daring 
on both sides, resulting in the destruction of 
the Spanish fleet that sailed from the Cape 
Verde Islands in the latter part of April, 1898. 
From that time until May 12th, when Ad- 
miral Cervera touched at the Island of Mar- 
tinique, the fastest cruisers in the American Navy had been 
patrolling West Indian waters without sighting the Spanish 
ships, while Admiral Sampson with a powerful squadron 
waited for the Spaniards off Porto Rico; but Admiral Cer- 
vera's ships could not be found. The opinions of naval strat- 
egists were as numerous as the individuals themselves, yet the 
location of the Cape Verde fleet remained a mystery. 

No one doubted the ability of ihe American ships to cope 
with the enemy, but there were grave fears of a sudden dash 
upon some unprotected coast, or a stealthy night attack upon 
the American vessels, by torpedo boats that formed an im- 
portant part of the Spanish fleet. The safety of the battle- 
ship Oregon, which had not then finished her historic voyage 
from San Francisco to Jupiter, Florida, was a fruitful topic of 
discussion in all circles, when the announcement came that 
the Spanish warships had arrived at Curacoa, a Dutch island 
off the coast of Venezuela, had coaled there and then pro- 
ceeded to sea in the direction of Cuba. 

On May 25th, Commodore Schley, commanding the Fly- 
ing Squadron, telegraphed the Navy Department that he was 
satisfied the Spanish fleet was in Santiago harbor on the 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 403 

south coast of Cuba. On the same day, the larger part of 
Admiral Sampson's squadron , then lying directly opposite the 
entrance to Havana harbor, moved to the eastward. On the 
29th, all doubt as to the whereabouts of Admiral Cervera's 
fleet was at an end, as Captain Sigsbee, formerly in command 
of the ill-fated battleship Maine, took the swift St. Paul 
across the line of Morro's frowning guns and located the 
vessels. Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete and his hitherto 
elusive fleet were bottled up in Santiago harbor ; Commodore 
Winfield Scott Schley, a man possessing ideal qualities of 
dash and cunning, persistency, zeal and courage, had cleverly 
caught the Spaniards in a trap of their own setting. 

The harbor of Santiago de Cuba, into which the Spanish 
admiral took his magnificent cruisers and swift torpedo-boats, 
is one of the finest land-locked anchorages in the world. 

Coming in from the sea it is impossible to detect the mouth 
of the harbor channel until close inshore, as toward the land 
nothing can be seen but high mountains presenting an 
apparently impenetrable front. But, continuing to approach 
the coast, two mountains seem suddenly to part asunder, dis- 
closing a passage only one hundred and eighty yards wide, 
but of good depth. 

Like Havana and San Juan, Santiago has its Morro Castle, 
built about 1640, on the mountain to the right of the entrance. 
On the mountain to the left is the fort of La Socapa ; further 
in and on the same side as Morro, is the star-shaped fortifica- 
tion called Estrella, or the Star. After the breaking out of the 
Cuban Revolution in 1895, the natural defenses of Santiago 
harbor were materially strengthened by the addition of num- 
bers of batteries and earthworks of modern construction. 

A preliminary bombardment, to determine the position of 
the Spanish forts and to locate the batteries on the hills above 
the harbor, was made by Commodore Schley on May 31st. 
During its progress, the Spanish flagship Cristobal Colon was 
twice struck by shells from the battleship Massachusetts. 

June 1st, Admiral Sampson with his squadron arrived off 
Santiago, relieved Commodore Schley, and assumed command 
of all the vessels operating in those waters. 



404 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

On June 3d, Assistant Naval Constructor Hobson <ind a 
volunteer crew took the collier Merrimac into the harbor of 
Santiago, and attempted to sink it across the channel in its 
narrowest part. The undertaking was only partially success- 
ful, for reasons given in his report, but unstinted praise was 
rendered Hobson and his associates for their daring exploit. 

June 6th Admiral Sampson's fleet bombarded the defences 
of Santiago harbor. The fire was terrific ; the Estrella and 
Catalina fortifications were destroyed and the other works 
silenced. 

Again, on June i6th, the American fleet bombarded the 
Santiago batteries, with the exception of Morro. This was 
spared because it was supposed that Hobson and his men 
were in confinement there. The American gunnery was 
superb and did tremendous execution, totally wrecking one 
heavy battery and inflicting terrible punishment on the 
others. 

Following these operations against the harbor defenses, the 
American Army of Invasion, commanded by Major-General 
William R. Shafter, landed to the eastward of Santiago and 
invested the city itself. 

With his position becoming more untenable every day, and 
acting under direct orders from Spain, Admiral Cervera on 
the morning of July 3d, made a desperate dash out of the 
harbor and attempted to escape. 

A Sunday quiet rested on the American fleet off" Santiago, 
the shore batteries were silent. On the land, the armies ol 
both nations were resting after two days of hard fighting. 

Admiral Sampson in the flagship New York was steaming 
away to the eastward to confer with General Shafter, and the 
vessels on the blockade were the Iowa, Indiana and Oregon, 
battleships ; the flagship of Commodore Schley, the cruiser 
Brooklyn, and the converted yachts, Gloucester and Vixen. 
The Iowa was lying a mile further out than the rest of the 
squadron, trying to fix her forward twelve-inch turret which 
was out of repair, while the Indiana was doing the same thing 
to her forward thirteen-inch turret. The absolutely available 
ships, therefore, were the Brooklyn, the Texas and the 



THE DESTKUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 405 

Oregon. Nevertheless, the Iowa and Indiana took splendid 
parts in the action. 

As the signal "Cervera's trying to escape," passed round 
the fleet, the Brooklyn dashed after the Infanta Maria Teresa, 
the first ship to emerge from the harbor. The splendid 
Spanish cruiser had turned to the westward, her high, black 
bulwarks showing plain against the green of the hills, witli 
the red and yellow ensign of Spain and the pennant of Ad- 
miral Cervera, flying above the magnificent ship. 

Behind this flagship, and at nearly equal speed, came the 
Vizcaya, the Almirante Oquendo and the Cristobal Colon, 
with two torpedo-boat destroyers, the Furor and Pluton, bring- 
ing up the rear. 

The first shot of the action was from an eleven-inch gun on 
the Maria Teresa, and was intended for the Brooklyn ; then 
began a running fight, one of the momentous battles of naval 
history. 

Swinging to a parallel course with the enemy, the Iowa 
brought her starboard battery into action, the grim battleship 
sending twelve and eight-inch shells at the nearest ship, and 
pouring in a rapid fire storm from her secondary battery. 

All the American ships were quickly in action, and a hurri- 
cane of shot and shell rained upon the cruisers that were 
following after Cervera's flag. 

The first fire of the battleships was poured upon the Spanish 
flagship, but soon the Vizcaya, Oquendo, and Colon had to 
face the fire of the Iowa, Texas and Indiana, while the Brook- 
lyn and the Oregon raced after the flying admiral. 

The scene was magnificent beyond description. As the 
smoke, which wrapped the ships in stifling obscurity, lifted 
from time to time, the Admiral's ship, " bannered with flame," 
could be seen ten miles to the westward of Morro Castle, 
headed for the shore, a last, desperate effort to keep her out ot 
her enemy's hands. 

Almost simultaneously with the beaching of the Maria 
Teresa, the Vizcaya and Oquendo fighting their way in the 
terrible din and uproar of heavy guns and the continuous 
crash and rattle of rapid-fire batteries, turned shoreward 



406 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

uuable to withstand the terrible hammering of the battle- 
ships. 

The Spanish crews had not been idle. They fought with 
desperate bravery, but courage was no match for courage and 
good gunnery. The Spanish shells flew wild while the 
American gun fire was marked with merciless precision. 

The Vizcaya and Oquendo were beached less than half a 
mile apart, and as they accepted the inevitable and headed for 
the shore, both cruisers were on fire ; the Vizcaya from for- 
ward to amidships. 

None who saw the battered wreck that now rested on the 
beach at Acerraderos, blackened by fire, her bows blown out 
by some internal explosion, and gaping shot wounds in her 
sides, would recognize the splendid cruiser Vizcaya, who, but 
a few months before, visited the harbor of New York, charged, 
as her captain announced, "with a mission of peace." 

The Oquendo la'd well upon the beach, her sides scarred 
by many shots, a treu.endous hole in her portbow ; her mili- 
tary masts gone ; her deck a scene of wreck and confusion. 

The Cristobal Colon made the longest run for liberty. 
Past the bay where her battered sisters, the Vizcaya and 
Oquendo were lying, past the Maria Teresa smouldering on 
the beach, the fleet cruiser held westward, evidently hoping 
to break through the lines and reach free water. She had 
passed the Iowa, the Indiana and the Texas, but could not 
shake off the Brooklyn and the Oregon, which were coming 
up with railroad speed. In spite of the twelve and thirteen- 
inch shells that rained upon the fleet cruiser, she kept on in 
the low hanging smoke from her own guns and that which 
drifted inshore from her pursuers. 

The firing was incessant, and the Spanish Commander, his 
ship on fire at the stern, seeing the Oregon turning inshore to 
intercept him, altered his course as if to attempt to pass 
between the Oregon and the Brooklyn and run for the 
open sea. 

But it was not to be ; the Texas and the Oregon were 
closing the gap between themselves and the doomed 
ship, firing at long range, and the Brooklyn was raking 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'R FLEEl. 409 

her at much shorter range. Wreathed in smoke and unable 
to subdue the flames caused by bursting shells, the Colon 
headed inshore and ran for the rocks over which the surf was 
breaking. 

As the Colon headed for the shore, the battleships ceased 
firing and ran in to save the survivors. The Colon struck 
bow on and rested there. She had consistently followed the 
idea that led the ships to quit the harbor — the making of a 
glorious end. 

But the battleships were not to have all the glory of the 
day. The converted yacht Gloucester, did work that was 
heroic and astonishing. 

As the Vizcaya came out of the harbor, and passed into the 
storm of shells from the battleships, she turned her secondary 
battery on the Gloucester, who returned the fire with six- 
pound shells, and then trained her guns on the Oquendo and 
Colon. She was in the thickest of the fighting and when the 
Furor and Pluton appeared she riddled them with a deadly 
fire. 

A twelve-inch shell from the Iowa tore off the stern of one 
of the torpedo-boat destroyers, and then the Gloucester rained 
shells upon her and her consort. Splintered and torn the 
destroyers attempted to turn and run for the mouth of the 
harbor, but the Gloucester was ready for them and under her 
fire one was sunk and the other run ashore to save the lives of 
those left on board. This one blew up soon after being 
abandoned and boats from the Gloucester picked up the sur- 
vivors of the crews including both commanders. 

Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright, who commanded the 
Gloucester on this memorable day, was executive officer on 
the battleship Maine when she was destroyed in Havana 
harbor. 

Admiral Cervera escaped to the shore in a boat sent by the 
Gloucester to the assistance of the Maria Teresa. As soon as 
he touched the beach he surrendered himself and his com- 
mand to Lieutenant Morton, and asked to be taken on board 
the Gloucester, which was the only American vessel near him 
at the 'iime. 



410 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVER\'S FLEET. 

The Spanish Admiral, who was wounded in the arm, was 
taken to the Gloucester, and was received at the gangway by 
her commander, Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright, who 
placed his cabin at the disposal of the gallant Spaniard. 

In this action the Spanish lost all their ships and about one 
half their number in killed and wounded. 

On the American ships one man was killed and one 
wounded. 

The prisoners were taken on the auxiliary cruiser St. 
Louis to Portsmouth, N. H. Subsequently, Admiral Cervera 
and the higher Spanish officers were taken to Annapolis, 
where comfortable quarters were provided for them, and every 
courtesy shown them. 

The following description of the battle between the Ameri- 
can and Spanish warships, was furnished by an eye-witness on 
Commodore Schley's flagship, the armored cruiser Brooklyn : 

" The Brooklyn and the Vixen were the only ships to the 
west of the entrance, the other ships having drifted to the 
east. On the bridge. Navigator Hodgson, of the Brooklyn, 
said sharply to the lookout : ' Isn't that smoke moving? ' and 
the lookout, after a minute's inspection with the long glass, 
dropped it excitedly and fairly yelled, ' There's a big ship 
coming out of the harbor, sir ! ' 

" Hodgson, who is a particularly cool man, looked once 
himself, and then grasping the megaphone, shouted : ' After 
bridge, there. Tell the Commodore that the enemy's fleet is 
coming out ! ' 

" Commodore Schley was sitting under the awning on the 
quarter-deck. Going to the bridge he said, ' Raise the signal 
to the fleet,' and turning to Captain Cook, who stood near, 
he said, ' Clear ship for action.' Then he went forward and 
took his place on a little platform of wood running around 
the outside of the conning tower, which had been built for 
him. 

"The men, with a yell, went to their guns and the rapid 
preliminary orders were given. Schley, glasses in hand, 
watched the first ship turn out, and saw her start for the west. 
Still he gave no signal to fire or move. 



THE DESTRITCTTON OF CERVERA'R FLEET. 411 

" The Oregon opened with her thirteen-inch shells, and 
the Indiana and Texas followed suit. The range was a 
long one. Still the Brooklyn waited. But down below, the 
coal was being forced into the furnace, every boiler was being- 
worked, and every gun made ready to fire. Schley wanted to 
know which way they were all going, or whether they would 
scatter. 

' ' In the meantime the Oregon began to turn to the west 
and the Texas had moved in closer, and was damaging the 
leading ship, the Infanta Maria Teresa. 

"'They are all coming west, sir," shouted Lieutenant 
Sears, and just then the western batteries opened up. 

*' ' Full speed ahead ; open fire ! ' shouted the Commodore. 
' Fire deliberately and don't waste a shot,' he added, and the 
orderlies carried the word to the turrets. 

" In an instant the Brooklyn's terrific eight- and five-inch 
batteries on her port side opened, and the cruiser headed for a 
point in front of the first escaping ship, firing at and receiv- 
ing the fire from two of them. 

"At lo.ii the Spanish ships had all concentrated their shots 
on the Brooklyn, and she was in a perfect rain of shells, most 
of which went over her. 

"Standing in this rain of shells, Commodore Schley 
asked a yeoman or ship's storekeeper, a young man named 
Ellis, who stood near him with a stadimeter, 'What is 
the distance to the Vizcaya?' The man took the obser- 
vation. 'Twenty-two hundred yards, sir,' he said, and 
there was a whistle, followed by a splash, as his head was 
literally torn from his shoulders by an eight-inch shell. 

" 'Too bad,' said Commodore Schley, as the body fell at 
his feet, then, with his glasses to his eyes, he added, ' The 
first ship is done for. She is running ashore. ' 

' ' The Maria Teresa was running her nose on the beach, 
and in an instant was a mass of flames. The Brooklyn was 
ordered to concentrate her fire on the Almirante Oquendo, 
and, with the Oregon's assistance, in ten minutes more the 
Oquendo was sent ashore a burning wreck but a short dis- 
tance from Santiago. The Iowa, in the meantime, had sunk 



412 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

one torpedo-boat destroyer, and the other one had been driven 
ashore by the Gloucester's terrific rapid fire. 

"At 1049 th^ Brooklyn turned her attention to the Viz- 
caya, the Cristobal Colon having passed the latter and now 
being in the lead well up the coast. 

" At the time the only vessels in sight from the Brooklyn 
were the Oregon, about a mile and a half astern, and the 
Texas, about three miles astern. At 10. 54 the Vizcaya was 
raked fore and aft, clean along her gun-deck, by an eight-inch 
shell from the Brooklyn. Another one, a minute later, ex- 
ploded in her superstructure with terrific force, killing eighty 
people. She was afire, and at 10.55 she headed for the beach 
at Acerraderos where she went ashore. 

"The Brooklyn did not stop, but kept up the chase after 
the Cristobal Colon, the Oregon rapidly closing up and fol- 
lowing her. The other vessels at this time were from six to 
eight miles behind, and Admiral Sampson's flagship, the New 
York, was not in sight. 

"At 1.05, P. M., both the Brooklyn and the Oregon were 
pounding away at the Colon. In another ten minutes, after 
returning the fire in a desultory sort of way and rapidly losing 
ground, the Colon turned towards shore. At 1.15 she hauled 
down her flag. 

" With yells of delight the men poured out of the turrets of 
the two ships, and when a boom went up at the mainmast of 
the Brooklyn they began to cheer, and did not stop for ten 
minutes. 

" At this time the only ships in sight were the Vixen, 
about five miles away, and the Texas, about seven miles 
away. The New York was not in sight. As the big ships 
moved in on the quarry, the smoke of the New York could be 
seen coming over the horizon from the east, but she was fully 
twelve miles away. 

" A boat was lowered from the Brooklyn, and Captain Cook 
weut aboard to receive the surrender. The captain in charge 
said, with tears in his eyes, ' I surrender unconditionally to 
Commodore Schley. We were badly hurt and could not get 
away.' While Captain Cook's boat was coming alongside, 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET 415 

the Spanish captives shouted, * Bravo, Americano,' and the 
crew responded, ' Bravo, Spaniardio' (sic). 

"While Captain Cook was returning to the Brooklyn, the 
New York, with Admiral Sampson, came along, ran in be- 
tween the Brooklyn and the prize, and ordered Captain Cook 
to send the prisoners on board the New York. 

"Commodore Schley, seeing this, megaphoned over, 'I 
request the honor of receiving the surrender of the officers of 
the Cristobal Colon.' 

' ' Commodore Schley then raised the pennant : ' A glorious 
victory has been won. Details later.' 

"The answer from the New York was, 'Report your 
casualties. ' 

' ' The Brooklyn was hit twenty-six times, but only one 
man, G. H. Ellis, was killed, and only one man^ J. II. Burns, 
fireman, wounded. 

' ' The Colon went ashore at the place where the Virginius 
expedition tried to land and was captured years ago. 

"The chase had lasted four hours, and the Brooklyn, 
Oregon, Texas and Gloucester had saved the United States 
fleet from the stain of allowing the Spanish vessels to escape 
—the Oregon and Brooklyn by their splendid chase and great 
gunnery, the Texas by her determined work on the first two 
ships, and the Gloucester, by her marvelous attack on the 
destroyers." 

Captain Robley D. Evans, commanding the battleship Iowa, 
who took a prominent part in the battle which resulted in the 
destruction of the Spanish fleet, told this thrilling story of 
the engagement : 

"As the Spanish squadron came out in column, the ships 
beautifully spaced as to distance and gradually increasing 
their speed to thirteen knots, it was superb. 

" The Iowa from this moment kept up a steady fire from 
her heavy guns, heading all the time to keep the Infanta 
Maria Teresa on her starboard bow and hoping to ram one of 
the leading ships. In the meantime the Oregon, Indiana, 
Brooklyn and Texas were doing excellent work with their 
heavy guns. In a very short space of time the enemy's 

24 



416 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET 

ships were all clear of the harbor mouth, and it became evi« 
dently impossible for the Iowa to ram either the first or the 
second ship on account of their speed, 

" The range at this time was 2000 yards from the leading 
ship. The Iowa's helm was immediately put hard to star- 
board, and the entire port side was poured into the Infanta 
Maria Teresa. The helm was then quickly shifted to port 
and the ship headed across the stern of the Teresa in an 
effort to head off the Oquendo. All the time the engines 
were driving at full speed ahead. A perfect torrent of shells 
from the enemy passed over the smokestacks and superstruc- 
ture of the ship, but none struck her. 

"The Cristobal Colon, being much faster than the rest of 
the Spanish ships, passed lapidly in front in an efibrt to 
escape. In passing the Iowa the Colon placed two six-inch 
shells fairly in our starboard bow. One passed through the 
cofferdam and dispensary, wrecking the latter and bursting 
on the berth deck, doing considerable damage. The other 
passed through the side at the water line with the cofferdam, 
where it still remains. 

"As it was now obviously impossible to lam any of the 
Spanish ships on account of their superior speed, the Iowa's 
helm was put to the starboard, and she ran on a course paral- 
lel with the enemy. Being then abreast of the Almirante 
Oquendo, at a distance of iioo yards, the Iowa's entire bat- 
tery, including the rapid-fire guns, was opened on the Oquen- 
do. The punishment was terrific. Many twelve-and eight- 
inch shells were seen to explode inside of her and smoke came 
out through her hatches. Two twelve-inch shells from the 
Iowa pierced the Almirante Oquendo at the same moment, 
one forward and the other aft. The Oquendo seemed to stop 
her engines for a moment and lost headway, but she imme- 
diately resumed her speed and gradually drew ahead of the 
Iowa and came under the terrific fire of the Oregon and 
Texas. 

"At this moment the alarm of 'torpedo-boats' was sounded, 
and two torpedo-boat destroyers were discovered on the star" 
board quarter at a distance of 4000 yards. Fire was at once 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 417 

Opened on them with the after battery, and a twelve-inch shell 
cut the stern of one destroyer squarely off. As this shell 
struck, a small torpedo-boat fired back at the battleship, send- 
ing a shell within a few feet of my head. I said to Execu- 
tive Officer Rogers, ' That little chap has got a lot of cheek.' 
Rogers shouted back, 'She shoots very well all the same.' 

" Well up among the advancing cruisers, spitting shots at 
one and then at another, was the little Gloucester, shooting 
first at a cruiser and then at a torpedo boat and hitting a head 
wherever she saw it. The marvel was that she was not de- 
stroyed by the rain of shells. 

'' In the meantime, the Vizcaya was slowly drawing abeam 
of the Iowa, and for the space of fifteen minutes it was give 
and take between the two ships. The Vizcaya fired rapidly 
but wildly, not one shot taking effect on the Iowa, while the 
shells from the Iowa were tearing great rents in the sides of 
the Vizcaya. As the latter passed ahead of the Iowa she 
came under the murderous fire of the Oregon. At this time 
the Infanta Maria Teresa and the Almirante Oquendo, leading 
the enemy's column, were seen to be heading for the beach 
and in flames. The Texas, Oregon and Iowa pounded them 
unmercifully. They ceased to reply to the fire and in a few 
moments the Spanish cruisers were a mass of flames and on 
the rocks, with their colors down, the Teresa flying a white 
flag at the fore. 

" The crews of the enemy's ship stripped themselves and 
began jumping overboard, and some of the smaller magazines 
began to explode. 

" Meantime, the Brooklyn and the Cristobal Colon were 
exchanging compliments in lively fashion and at apparently 
long range, and the Oregon, with her locomotive speed, was 
hanging well on to the Colon, also paying attention to the 
Vizcaya. The Teresa and the Oquendo were in flames on 
the beach just twenty minutes after the first shot was fired. 
Fifty minutes after the first shot was fired the Vizcaya put 
her helm to port with a great burst of flame from the after 
part of the ship, and headed slowly for the rocks at Acerra- 
deros, where she found her last resting place. 



418 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

''As it was apparent that the Iowa could not possibly catch 
the Cristobal Colon and that the Oregon and Brooklyn un- 
doubtedly would, and as the fast New York was also on her 
trail, I decided that the calls of humanity should be answered 
and attention given to the 1200 or 1500 Spanish officers and 
men who had struck their colors to the American squadron 
commanded by Admiral Sampson. I therefore headed for the 
wreck of the Vizcaya, now burning furiously fore and aft. 
When I was as far as the depth of water would admit, I low- 
ered all my boats and sent them at once to the assistance of 
the unfortunate men, who were being drowned by dozens, or 
roasted on the decks. I soon discovered that the insurgent 
Cubans from the shore were shooting on men who were strug. 
gling in the water after having surrendered to us. I imme- 
diately put a stop to this, but I could not put a stop to the 
mutilation of many bodies by the sharks inside the reef. 
These creatures had become excited by the blood from the 
wounded mixing in the water. 

" My boats' crews worked manfully and succeeded in saving 
many of the wounded from the burning ship. One man, who 
will be recommended for promotion, clambered up the side of 
the Vizcaya and saved three men from burning to death. 
The smaller magazines of the Vizcaya were exploding with 
magnificent cloud effects. The boats were coming alongside 
in a steady string and willing hands were helping the lacerat- 
ed Spanish ofiicers and sailors on to the Iowa's quarter deck. 
All the Spaniards were absolutely without clothes. Some 
had their legs torn off by fragments of shells. Others were 
mutilated in every conceivable way. 

** The bottoms of the boats had two or three inches of blood. 
In many cases dead men were lying in the blood. Five poor 
chaps died on the way to the ship. They were afterwards 
buried with military honors from the Iowa. Some examples 
of heroism, or more properly devotion to discipline and duty, 
could never be surpassed. One man on the lost Vizcaya had 
his left arm almost shot off just below the shoulder. The 
fragments were hanging by a small piece of skin. But he 
climbed unassisted over the side and saluted as if on a visit 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 419 

of ceremony. Immediately after him came a strong, hearty 
sailor, whose left leg had been shot off above the knee. He 
was hoisted on board the Iowa with a tackle, but never a 
whimper came from him. Gradually the mangled bodies and 
naked men accumulated until it would have been almost diffi- 
cult to recognize the Iowa as a United States battleship. 

" Blood was all over her usually white quarter deck, and 
272 naked men were being supplied with water and food by 
those who a few minutes before had been using a rapid fire 
battery on them. Finally, came the boats with Captain Eulate, 
commander of the Vizcaya, for whom a chair was lowered 
over the side, as he was evidently wounded. The captain's 
guard of marines was drawn up on the quarterdeck to salute 
him, and I stood waiting to welcome him. As the chair was 
placed on the deck the marines presented arms. Captain 
Eulate slowly raised himself in the chair, saluted me with 
grave dignity, unbuckled his sword belt, and holding the hilt 
of the sword before him, kissed it reverently, with tears in 
his eyes, and then surrendered it to me. 

" Of course, I declined to receive his sword, and as the 
crew of the Iowa saw this, they cheered like wild men. As 
I started to take Captain Eulate into the cabin to let the 
doctors examine his wounds, the magazines on board the 
Vizcaya exploded with a tremendous burst of flame. Cap- 
tain Eulate, extending his hands, said: 'Adios Vizcaya. 
There goes my beautiful ship, Captain,' and so we passed on 
to the cabin, where the doctors dressed his three wounds. In 
the meantime, thirty officers of the Vizcaya had been picked 
up, besides the 272 of her crew. Our wardroom and steerage 
officers gave up their staterooms and furnished food, clothing 
and tobacco to those naked officers from the Vizcaya. The 
paymaster issued uniforms to the naked sailors, and each was 
given all the corned beef, coffee and hard tack he could eat. 
The war had assumed another aspect." 

The following account is from another source : 
*' Almost before the leading ship was clear of the shadow of 
Morro Castle, the fight had begun. Admiral Cervera started 
it I J a shell from the Infanta Maria Teresa, to which ne 



420 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

had transferred his flag. It struck none of the Americar. 
vessels. In a twinkling the big guns of the Texas belched 
forth their thunder, which was followed immediately by a 
heavy fire from our other ships. The Spaniards turned to the 
westward under full steam, pouring a constant fire on our 
ships, and evidently hoping to get away by their superior 
speed. 

" The Brooklyn turned her course parallel with that of the 
Spaniards, and , after getting in good range, began a running 
fight. 

*' The Texas still leading in shore, kept up a hot exchange 
of shots with the foremost ships, which gradually drew away 
to the westward under the shadow of the hills. The third of 
the Spanish vessels, the Vizcaya or the Almirante Oquendo, 
was caught by the Texas in good fighting range, and it was 
she that engaged the chief attention of the first battleship 
commissioned in the American navy — the old " hoodoo," but 
now the old hero. The Texas steamed west with her adver- 
sary, and as she could not catch her with speed she did with 
her shells. Captain John W. Philip directed operations from 
the bridge until the fire got so hot that he ordered the ship to 
be run from the conning tower, and the bridge contingent 
moved down to the passage surrounding the tower. This was 
a providential move, for a moment later a shell from one of 
the Spanish cruisers tore through the pilot-house. It would 
have killed the wheelman and perhaps everybody on the 
bridge had they remained there. 

''Captain Philip, Executive Ofiicer Harper, Navigation 
Officer Milner, Cadet Reynolds, manipulating the range- 
finder, and a few messengers stood outside on the conning 
tower platform. 

" Captain Philip directed every move throughout the heat 
of the fight. For half an hour the shells whistled all about 
the ship, but only one other struck it. This tore a hole 
through the ash-hoist amidships and exploded inside the 
smokestack. No one was iniured. 

'' The din of the guns was so terrific that orders had to be 
yelled close to the messengers' ears, and at times the smoke 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 421 

was SO thick that absolutely nothing could be seen. Once or 
twice the twelve-inch guns in the turrets were swung across 
the ship and fired. The concussion shook the great vessel as 
though she had been struck by a great ball, and everything 
movable was splintered. The men near the guns were thrown 
flat on their faces. One of them, a seaman named Scarm, was 
tumbled down a hatch into the forward handling-room. His 
leg was broken. 

"Meanwhile the Oregon had come in on the run. She 
passed the Texas and chased after Commodore vSckley, on the 
Brooklyn, to head off the foremost of the Spanish ships. The 
Iowa also turned her course westward, and kept up a hot fire 
on the running enemy. 

"At 10. lo o'clock the third of the Spanish ships, the one 
that had been exchanging compliments with the Texas, was 
seen to be on fire and a mighty cheer went up from our ships. 
The Spaniard headed for the shore and the Texas turned her 
attention to the one following. The Brooklyn and Oregon, 
after a few parting shots, also left her contemptuously, and 
made all steam and shell after the foremost two of the Spanish 
ships, the Almirante Oquendo and the Cristobal Colon. 

''Just then the two torpedo-boat destroyers Pluton and 
Furor were discovered. They had come out after the cruisers 
without being seen and were boldly heading west down the 
coast. ' All small guns on the torpedo-boats, ' was the order 
on the Texas, and in an instant a hail of shot was pouring all 
about them. A six-pounder from the starboard battery of the 
Texas, under Ensign Gise, struck the foremost torpedo-boat 
fairly in the boiler. 

*' A rending sound was heard above the roar of battle. A 
great spout of black smoke shot up from that destroyer and 
she was out of commission. The Iowa, which was coming 
up fast, threw a few complimentary shots at the second tor- 
pedo-boat destroyer and passed on. The little Gloucester, 
formerly the yacht Corsair, then sailed in and finished the 
second boat. 

"Gun for gun and shot for shot the running fight was kept 
up between '.-\e Spanish cruisers and the four American ves- 



422 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

sels. At lo 30 o'clock the Infanta Maria Teresa and Vizcaya 
were almost on the beach, and were evidently in distress. As 
the Texas was firing at them a white flag was run up on the 
one nearest her, 

'' ' Cease firing,' called Captain Philip, and a moment later 
both the Spauiards were beached. Clouds of black smoke 
arose from each, and bright flashes of flame could be seen 
shining through the smoke. Boats were visible putting out 
from the cruisers to the shore. The Iowa waited to see that 
the two warships were really out of the fight, and it did not 
take her long to determine that they would never fight again. 
The Iowa herself had suffered some very hard knocks. 

" The Brooklyn, Oregon and Texas pushed ahead after the 
Colon and Almirante Oquendo, which were now running the 
race of their lives along the coast. At 10.50 o'clock the 
Almirante suddenly headed inshore, she had the Brooklyn 
and Oregon abeam, and the Texas astern. The Brooklyn 
and Oregon pushed on after the Cristobal Colon, which was 
making fine time, and which looked as if she might escape, 
leaving the Texas to finish the Almirante Oquendo. The 
work did not take long. The Spanish ship was already burn- 
ing. At 11.05 down came a yellow and red flag at her stern. 
Just as the Texas got abeam of her she was shaken by a 
mighty explosion. 

"The crew of the Texas started to cheer. 'Don't cheer, 
because the poor devils are dying,' called Captain Philip, and 
the Tex^s left the Almirante Oquendo to her fate to join in 
the chase of the Cristobal Colon. 

"That ship in desperation was plowing the waters at a rate 
that caused the fast Brooklyn trouble. The Oregon made 
great speed for a battleship, and the Texas made the effort of 
her life. Never since her trial trip has she made such time. 

" The Brooklyn might have proved a match to the Cristo- 
bal Colon in speed, but she was not supposed to be her 
match in strength. 

" It would never do to allow even one of the Spanish ships 
to get away. Straight into the west the strongest chase of 
modern times took place. The Brooklyn headed the pursuers. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 423 

She stood well out from the shore in order to try to cut off 
the Cristobal Colon at a point jutting out into the sea far 
ahead. The Oregon kept a middle course about a mile from 
the cruiser. The desperate Don ran close along the shore, 
and now and then he threw a shell of defiance. The old 
Texas kept well up in the chase under forced draught for 
over two hours . 

'* The fleet Spaniard led the Americans a merry chase, but 
she had no chance. The Brooklyn gradually forged ahead so 
that the escape of the Cristobal Colon was cut off at the point 
above mentioned. The Oregon was abeam of the Colon then 
and the gallant Don gave it up. 

*' At 1. 15 o'clock he headed for the shore, and five minutes 
later down came the Spanish flag. None of our ships were 
then within a mile of her, but her escape was cut off. The 
Texas, Oregon and Brooklyn closed in on her and stopped 
their engines a few hundred yards away. 

" Captain Cook left the Brooklyn in a small boat and went 
aboard the Cristobal Colon, and received the surrender. 
Meantime the New York, with Admiral Sampson on board, 
and the Vixen were coming up on the run. Commodore 
Schley signaled to Admiral Sampson, ' We have won a great 
victory, details will be communicated.' 

"The victory certainly was Commodore Schley's. Then 
for an hour after the surrender in that little cove under the 
high hills was a general Fourth of July celebration, though a 
little premature. Our ships cheered one another, the cap- 
tains indulged in compliments through the megaphones, and 
the Oregon got out its band, and the strains of the 'Star 
Spangled Banner ' echoed over the lines of Spaniards drawn 
up on the deck of the last of the Spanish fleet, and up over 
the lofty green tipped hills of the Cuban mountains. 

"Commodore Schley, coming alongside the Texas, from 
the Cristobal Colon, in his gig, called out cheerily, * It was a 
nice fight, Jack, wasn't it? ' 

" The veterans of the Texas lined up and gave three hearty 
cheers and a tiger for their old commander-in-chief. Captain 



424 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

Philip called all hands to the quarter-deck, and with bared 
head, thanked God for the almost bloodless victory. 

" ' I want to make public acknowledgment here,' he said, 
* that I believe in God the Father Almighty. I want all you 
officers and men to lift your hats and from your hearts ojOfer 
silent thanks to the Almighty.' 

"All hats were off. There was a moment or two of abso- 
lute silence, and then the overwrought feelings of the ship's 
company relieved themselves in three hearty cheers for their 
beloved commander." 

After the battle Admiral Cervera said to a special corres- 
pondent of the New York Hei-ald that he had received three 
cablegrams from the Minister of Marine at Madrid ordering 
him to leave Santiago. Knowing the force he would have to 
encounter, he felt convinced that obedience to these orders 
would spell " suicide" to the imprisoned fleet that faced it. 

Then came another despatch, a peremptory one, that left 
no choice but to obey. It said : — ." No matter what the con- 
sequences are, go to sea at once and fight the enemy." 

"So I went out. My plan was to attack your Brooklyn, 
sink or disable her if possible, then run to Havana, raise the 
blockade there, and seek refuge in the harbor, but I failed in 
my purpose, as you know, lost all I had, my fleet and every, 
thing. My country's misfortune and my own are very 
great. ' 

"Asked if he thought the destruction of his fleet would end 
the war, the Admiral said : 

" I cannot speak. I am unable to speak of that."- 

"If the Americans attack Havana I am sure they will 
meet with a terrible resistance and will lose ships and men." 

" If Linares is not heavily reinforced Santiago must fall. 
But on the day before I left he was joined by two thousand 
men. He was expecting reinforcements from all parts of the 
island. If they join him the city may hold out for some 
time." 

The conversation turned to Hobson and his forlorn hope, 
and the Admiral had no word of praise too high for that 
little band of heroes and their world renowned exploit. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 425 

Cervera then spoke of Captain Wainwright, of the Glou- 
cester, and his brave, big-hearted executive officer. Lieuten- 
ant H. McL. P. Huse. Cervera thanked them both from 
the bottom of his heart for the manner in which they had 
stood by the fire-imperilled Maria Teresa, whose heated guns 
made a fearful danger zone, and whose magazine threatened 
to dash the life from every one nearby. 

Seeing the danger, Cervera begged Lieutenant Huse to 
shove off from the flaming wreck. "That gallant and noble 
officer," said Cervera, replied, " No, Admiral, not until I have 
rescued all your wounded." 

"I jumped overboard and my son followed me. I could 
make no headway and would have been drowned had not he 
helped me and borne me up with his younger and stronger 
arms. While we were struggling in the water the Cubans on 
shore fired at us, but the Americans drove them away and 
would not allow them to molest us again. 

' ' Then I was taken on board the Gloucester and then to 
the Iowa." 

The Admiral was asked about the first bombardment of 
Santiago. " It was a great surprise," he confessed. He had 
feared that the Cristobal Colon would have been sunk, as the 
rest of the fleet was not within supporting distance, and the 
forts at that time were but imperfectly defended, mounting 
but a few guns. 

He could not understand why the American ships did not 
close in and strike the Colon en masse, as she had none of her 
big guns on board. 

" Did not have her big guns ? Where were they ?" was the 
question that interrupted the Admiral's talk. 

" In Italy — or perhaps in the pockets of our chief of ord 
nance," was the reply given with an expressive shrug. 

Continuing, the Admiral said that during the attack of 
June 6 the Reina Mercedes was struck several times, and that 
the captain and four of the vessel's crew had been killed. 

He was greatly impressed by the battery practice of the 
Texas during the fight of June 22 , and gave high praise to that 
vessel for the splendid way in which her guns were handled. 



426 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

Of Captain Robley D. Evans, of the Iowa, the Admiral 
spoke in glowing terms. On board that vessel he had been 
received more as a conqueror than a captive, had been allowed 
to retain his sword, and had seen the marine guard of the 
ship stationed to receive him as though he was a visiting ad- 
miral instead of a half-drowned and sadly beaten hostage of 
war. 

Eulate, captain of the Vizcaya, also spoke in high terms of 
Captain Evans, and appreciated the courtesy of ' ' Fighting 
Bob " in allowing him to retain his sword, and also for the 
way in which he allowed the Vizcaya's dead to be buried. 
After the Spanish flag had been wrapped around the bodies 
the padre of the Vizcaya committed them to the deep, the 
Iowa's guard of marines firing three volleys over the dead. 

Cervera told Commodore Schley that one shell which 
had burst on the Maria Teresa killed and wounded eighty men. 

Shortly afterhis surrender, Captain Eulate, of the Vizcaya, 
wounded, halt of limb and depressed in spirit, said to a cor- 
respondent of the press that he had saved his honor, although 
he had lost his ship. That was the wording of a dispatch 
which he had sent his wife after the destruction of the 
Vizcaya. 

*' When you think of the odds I encountered, you will see 
that I could not do more than I did," Captain Eulate said. 

' ' I had only one ship against four. My enemies were the 
Brooklyn, the Oregon and the Texas, and I think the lowa 
was the other. All four punished us severely, but it was the 
Texas that gave us our coup de grace — a shell fired from that 
vessel entering our port below and exploding one of the for- 
ward magazines. My men stood by their guns and fought 
like true Spaniards." 

" But naval conflicts now are not determined by courage," 
sighed the mournful Captain. "The victory is to the finer 
machine, and the American machines were better than ours. 
The Vizcaya, ah ! she was a fine ship ! And now what a 
wreck ! Poor Spain !" 

Captain Eulate commanded the Vizcaya during that vessel's 
visit to New York Harbor, a short time after the Maine dis- 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 427 

aster. Before that lie had come into notoriety as the officer 
who had ordered the execution of the Competitor prisoners. 

Two days later in an interview Captain Eulate said :— 

" The entire squadron was ordered to devote the fire of their 
guns to the cruiser Brooklyn , because it was believed that she 
was the only ship in the American squadron who could over- 
take us. When we got out of the harbor I saw immediately 
that the flagship Maria Teresa was getting a terrible baptism 
of fire. It was frightful. The Texas and the Brooklyn were 
just riddling her, and in fifteen minutes I saw she was on fire. 
The Iowa and the Oregon were firing on the Oquendo, and as 
yet I had not been badly hit. 

" The Brooklyn was a half mile closer to us than any other 
ship and I determined to try and ram her, so that the Colon 
and Oquendo could get away, and I started for her. She was 
a good mark with a big broadside, and as I started I thought 
surely I would get her, but she had evidently seen us and very 
quicKiy turned about, and, making a short circle, came at our 
port side, so that I thought she would ram us. The maneu- 
vre of the Brooklyn was beautiful. 

" We opened a rapid fire at her with all our big guns, but 
she returned it with terrible effect. The Oregon also hit us 
several times, but the Brooklyn's broadside crashing into our 
superstructure simply terrorized the men. We worked all our 
guns at her at one time and I don't see how she escaped us. 
She simply drove us into shore, at one time fighting us at 
HOG yards. One shell went along the entire gun deck, kill- 
ing half the men on it and wounding nearly all the rest. A 
shell from the Oregon hit the superstructure, and it was then^ 
wounded and knowing that we could not get away, I struck 
the flag and started toward the beach. When those men who 
were aHve started to swim for shore the Cubans on shore shot 
at us until the American ships arrived and stopped them. 

"The Brooklyn had prevented me from getting away, for 
I could have beaten the Oregon out, as I had a two mile lead 
on her. My orders were to try and sink the Brooklyn and I 
tried to carry them out. I did not think her battery could 
be so terirble as it was," 



428 THE DESTKUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

The following was related by a correspondent who was on 
the battleship Iowa, four days after the destruction of the 
Spanish ships, and the surrender of Admiral Cervera : 

" ' If I could have gotten by the Brooklyn, as I believed we 
could,' said Admiral Cervera to Commodore Schley and Cap- 
tain Evans, in the cabin of the Iowa, yesterday, ' I could have 
gotten away. My orders to concentrate fire on the Brooklyn 
were carried out, but your ship has a charmed life, sir,' and 
the sad-faced Admiral with tears in his eyes, added, 

"'My career is ended. I shall go back to Spain to be 
killed or die in disgrace.' 

" Commodore Schley put out his hand and rested it on Cer- 
vera's shoulder. He speaks perfect Spanish, and the liquid 
language flowed easily as he said, 

" 'Admiral, you are a brave man, and coming out as you 
did in the face of a superior force is but an exemplification of 
that bravery. Your country can but do you honor,' 

"Upon this Admiral Cervera threw his arms around the 
Commodore, and said, ' Ah, sailors always are gentlemen.' 

' ' He then said that he thought their dead would number 
probably seven hundred and fifty, though he coiild not tell 
definitely. He spoke of the accuracy and deadliness of the 
Brooklyn's fire, saying that in the early part of the action one 
of her shells traversed the entire length of the gun-deck, kill- 
ing and wounding probably eighty men. On the Vizcaya 
alone there were one hundred and ten men killed. 

" Admiral Cervera said he had no doubt that at least, 
three of the ships would have gotten away had it not been for 
the Brooklyn, the Oregon and the Texas. 

" The story of Cervera's attempt to escape is an interesting 
one as told by the Frigate Commander, Adolpho Centrores, a 
prisoner on the converted yacht Vixen, taken off the Colon. 
Commander Centrores said : 

" ' It is not true that the heavy fire of the American ships 
drove us out. Besides the accident to the Reiua Mercedes we 
had no casualties. The dynamite shells of the Vesuvius did 
no damage except to terrorize people. A shell did not strike 
Smith Cay at all, but hit near the bise. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 429 

" ' We arrived in Santiago harbor on the 19th of May. We 
did not know that our whereabouts was a secret. We made 
no attempt to hide or to cover up our plans. 

" ' On Saturday the 28th of May, we got word that Schley 
had left Cienfuegos for Santiago, and we started to get out. 
The news had come too late, as Schley had left a couple of his 
ships to act as decoys before Cienfugos, and in the meantime 
had come down here. On Sunday morning. May 29th, we 
found Schley blocking our way. It was then Cervera's inten- 
tion come out and give battle, but General Linares and the 
citizens objected, and we stayed.' 

" 'What about the Hobson expedition? ' was asked. 

'•'Well, we were very much surprised, and at the first 
alarm believed that a torpedo-boat attack was going on. The 
shore batteries opened up and the ships used their rapid fire 
guns. The dynamos were not going, however, and we had 
no searchlights, so that we could not find the object. We 
did not sink her with our batteries or our mines. She 
sunk herself with her own torpedoes by blowing out her 
bottom.' 

' ' ' Admiral Cervera in making a tour of the shore batteries 
in a steam launch, a little later, found Hobson swimming in 
the entrance and trying to get out to sea. He had on a life- 
preserver, and when picked up asked that they save his com- 
panions. This was done. 

" 'After the arrival of the great American fleet. Admiral 
Cervera did not believe it wise to go out and try to fight it. 
He argued that the best policy for the fleet was to hold the 
harbor against the enemy, and be ready by an enfilading fire 
over the hilltop to drive back the invading army. 

'"At first the people in Santiago believed this wise, but 
provisions ran short, dispatch after dispatch came from Ma- 
drid ; it was found that public sentiment demanded a naval 
battle. 

"'On Saturday a conference was called on the flagship 
Maria Teresa, and all the officers of the fleet were present. 

" 'Admiral Cervera announced his intention of going out, 
and it was decided to try it that night. Just after dark, and 



430 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

after the ships had got up their anchors, beach lights were 
seen on the western hill, and it was decided that the American 
fleet had been warned of our intention and would close in on 
us. It was afterward too learned that the supposed signal 
lights were insurgents burning up block-houses.' 

" Then one of the other officers added : 

" ' We never thought that the Brooklyn's battery was so 
terrible or that she would attempt to fight all of us. She was 
a frightful sight when all her guns were going. 

" 'On Sunday morning, the lookouts reported that the 
Massachusetts, New Orleans and New York were not in sight, 
and it was concluded that it was a good time to make the 
start. We were the last ship out and we saw at once that the 
Brooklyn, Texas and Oregon were doing dreadful work with 
the two leading ships. That is all I know of the battle except 
that two eight-inch shells from the Brooklyn went through 
us, and a thirteen-inch shell from the Oregon hit us in 
the stern. Brassy's naval annual puts the Oregon down at 
fifteen knots, but she was doing more than that when she 
chased us.' " 

This pathetic story of Spanish disaster was told to a special 
correspondent of the New York Herald^ by Captain Maocro- 
hon, second captain of the Maria Teresa. His chief was 
desperately wounded during the fight : 

' ' I love my country and my heart bleeds for her now. Our 
fleet, my country's pride, has been destroyed. I fear that 
there will be an uprising at home when its destruction is 
made known. 

** Our plan for escape was well arranged, but better formu- 
lated than executed. We had arranged to force our way out 
on Saturday night, and the Maria Teresa was to have led. 
But, contrary to our expectations, the searchlights of your 
ships did not illumine the channel that night, as had been 
usual, and without that light we were unable to discern the 
wreck of the Merrimac, so we could not go out. You know 
how we came out the next morning — Sunday, that was. 
Great crowds were expected to come down to the wharf to see 
as depart, but the American troops were pushing the city too 



THE DESTRTCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET 433 

hard in front, and there were none to see us off. Our orders 
were to steam at full speed to the westward after clearing the 
harbor and concentrate our attack on the Brooklyn, paying 
no attention to any of the other ships, unless they forced us 
to attack them. 

*' So, in the morning they signalled to us from the battery 
that only the Texas and the Brooklyn were to the westward, 
and we got under way, the Maria Teresa, being the flagship, 
taking the lead. We opened Are on the Brooklyn, and the 
Texas answered it, but her shot fell short. Otherwise she 
would have struck us, for it was a straight line shot. The 
Brooklyn and the Iowa then fired, but neither shot hit. Again 
the Brooklyn and the Texas fired. The Brooklyn's shell 
went into the Admiral's cabin, and, exploding, set fire to the 
after part of the ship. The shell from the Texas pierced our 
side armor and exploded in the engine room, bursting the 
main steam pipe. We signalled to the engineer to start the 
pumps, but got no reply, and then found that all below in 
that part of the ship had been killed. At that time it was like 
hell on our bridge. Shells were bursting all around us, and 
the ship's hull was being riddled below. 

" The Captain turned to me and said, ' Sir, do you think it 
best to continue the hopeless fight, or, for the sake of human- 
ity and to save life, should we not beach the ship ? Many of 
our guns are dismounted and our engines are crippled.' 

'' ' Sir,' I replied, 'we are unable to fight longer. Let us 
beach the ship. ' 

"Then, as I said that, a shell struck our captain. His last 
words were to haul down the colors. The American fire was 
so fierce and their shells were bursting around us so fast and 
making so much smoke, that the Americans could not see 
that the flag was down and continued firing. I sent below for 
a blanket, and as soon as that was run up the firing ceased. 

' Meanwhile the Vizcaya had run between us and the 
Texas and was then engaging three ships — the Brooklyn, 
Oregon and Texas. She made a desperate, but hopeless 
fight. Now that we have learned that we lost between eight 
hundred and a thousand men and the Americans lost only 

25 



434 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

one man, it amazes us. It is incredible. We cannot compre- 
hend it. It does not seem possible. And yet we must believe 
it. Have we not seen with our own eyes the utter wrecks of 
our ships and how yours were not hurt, even to the smallest 
injury that we could see. 

" Our intentions was to run to Havana, raise the blockade 
there and enter the harbor. 

" I hear now the Americans intend sending their fleet to my 
country — that is my anxiety. My poor Spain will be helpless 
against your attack. I have seen what your ships can do and 
know our exposed cities will be destroyed. 

" It will be an awful fight and Spain will suffer most. But 
if anyone was bold enough to suggest that to my countrymen 
he would be cut to pieces. If America carries the war into 
Spain and defeats us there, the disgrace would be too great to 
bear. You know the fall of a great nation is like the fall of a 
great family, ' and great shall be the fall thereof.' And I am 
afraid that is how it will be with Spain. 

" Oh, God ! Open the eyes of my countrymen at home, 
that they may understand why we were defeated here ! 

"We were all astonished by the amazing rapidity and 
deadliness of the fire from the American ships. 

The correspondent stated that this was the general opinion 
among all the captured officers. They were all free to admit 
that the American navy man behind his gun is the most 
wonderful man they had ever dreamed of. The officers ex- 
pressed wide-eyed astonishment when told that it is the cus- 
tom in the American navy to exercise the crews at battery 
practice with full service charges at frequent and regular 
intervals. 

'" But that must cost you tremendous money,' exclaimed 
one, an officer of the Colon. * Yes,' said his companion, of 
the Vizcaya, ' but see the result.' 

' ' All of the Spanish officers seemed deeply distressed over 
the disaster which has befallen Spain. They seemed no less 
astonished at their treatment as prisoners. 

" ' The Spanish press,' said one who begs me not to quote 
his name, ' is alone to blame for the awful way in which we 



436 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. 

and the country at large have been deceived. We have been 
led to believe that the Americans would talk and bluster, but 
would not fight, and that America had no good ships — that 
the few bad ones she had were manned by foreigners, who 
would desert in time of war. Oh, how we have been deceived ! 
And then we were told that we would be horribly tortured 
and killed if we were captured. Now, I can hardly believe 
my senses. We are treated as friends and brothers by those 
we had been taught to dread.' " 



OUR NEW NAVY. 



4^9 




OUR NEW NAVY. 

O the man who is busy with his own affairs the 
enormous advance the American navy is 
making toward supremacy of the seas has 
passed ahnost unnoticed. He has heard of 
the new American navy for the last twenty 
years, but the "newest" American navy is 
not so familiar; yet since 1901, the Ameri- 
can navy has built or is building three 
scores of ships of all types, most important of all four- 
teen first class battleships, intended to be peerless. These 
are to maintain our navy up to the two-power stand- 
ard, and we must look forward to a time in the not far dis- 
tant future when the United States will become a most serious 
competitor for the command of the sea. 

The close of the Civil War left the United States mistress 
of the seas. Her fleet was big enough to "rule the waves." 
being as great as those of the combined European Powers; 
but in the light of present-day fleets it was not strong, 
although at that time the half dozen little monitors then in 
the service, or being completed, could have of themselves 
almost annihilated any European squadron that could be sent 
against them. It was the monitor that caused the metamor- 
phosis of all the navies of the world. England admitted that, 
of her proud fleets which commanded the seven seas, she 
really had only two fighting ships ; only two ships which she 
could trust to go into an action against the little turreted 
monitors. 



440 OUR NEW NAVY. 

After the Civil War the American navy quickly lost its 
place, for, while all Europe had taken lessons in America and 
strove to reconstruct their fleets, the United States navy was 
permitted to drift backward with unprecedented speed. For 
twenty years the flag was carried around the world in ships 
which were obsolete or worse. Officers in the navy began to 
feel ashamed of the ships they commanded, which, until only 
twenty years ago, were armed with obsolete guns of short 
range and little penetration. Then, during the administration 
of President Arthur, a new navy was agitated, and under 
President Clevdand's administration the first ships of the 
white squadron were launched. This was the beginning of 
the new navy. The Spanish war tested it, and it stood the 
test successfully. That war, instead of putting a quietus on 
further construction, brought the United States into so prom- 
inent a position as a world powder and added so many respon- 
sibilities that, instead of reducing the size of the fleet, it was 
found necessary to build another navy more powerful than 
the so-called new navy, and the first fruits of this advance 
are about to be gathered. 

That Congress is in thorough sympathy with the develop- 
ment of a navy which shall give the United States an un- 
questioned place in the forefront of great world powers is 
indicated in increasingly generous appropriations for con- 
struction. 

INCRE.\SE OF THE NAVY. 

The Naval Appropriation Act. approved April 27. 1904. 
provided for these increases in the naval establishment : 

One first-class battleship, carrying the heaviest armor and 
most powerful armament for a vessel of its class upon a trial 
displacement of not more than 16.000 tons; to have the high- 
est practicable speed and great radius of action, and to cost, 
exclusive of armor and armament, not exceeding $4,400,000. 

Two first-class armored cruisers, each of not more than 
14,500 tons trial displacement, and carrying the heaviest 



OUR NEW NAVY. 44 1 

armor and most powerful armament for a vessel of its class; 
to have the highest practicable speed and great radius of 
action, and to cost, exclusive of armor and armament, not ex- 
ceeding $4,400,000 each. 

Three scout cruisers, of not more than 3,750 tons trial dis- 
placement, carrying the most powerful ordnance of vessels of 
their class ; to have the highest speed compatible with good 
cruising qualities and great radius of action, and to cost, ex- 
clusive of armament, not exceeding $1,800,000 each. 

Two colliers, to be capable of accompanying the battle 
fleet; to carry five thousand tons of cargo coal, loaded, and 
to have a trial speed of not less than sixteen knots, to cost 
not exceeding $1,250,000 each. Said colliers to be built in 
navy yards, one on the Pacific and the other on the Atlantic 
Coast, the same to be designated by the Secretary of the 
Navy. 

The Secretary of the Navy was also authorized, in his 
discretion, to contract for or purchase subsurface or sub- 
marine torpedo boats in the aggregate of, but not exceeding, 
$850,000. Provided, that prior to said purchase of contract 
for said boats any American inventor or owner of a subsur- 
face or submarine torpedo boat may give reasonable notice 
and have his, her or its subsurface or submarine torpedo 
boat tested by comparison or competition, or both, with a 
government subsurface or submarine torpedo boat or any 
private competitor, provided there be any such, and thereupon 
the board appointed for conducting such tests shall report the 
result of said competition or comparison, together with its 
recommendations, to the Secretary of the Navy, who may 
purchase or contract for subsurface or submarine torpedo 
boats in a manner that will best advance the interests of the 
United States in torpedo or submarine warfare. And pro- 
vided further. That before any subsurface or submarine tor- 
pedo boat is purchased or contracted for it shall be accepted 
by the Navy Department as fulfilling all reasonable require- 



442 OUR NEW NAVY. 

ments for submarine warfare and shall have been fully tested 

to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Navy. 

Including these projected vessels, whicn are not yet in the 

process of construction, the United States Navy has on its 

list the following ships: 

First class battleships 25 

Third class battleships and coast defense ships 11 

First class cruisers 15 

Second class cruisers 3 

Third class cruisers 21 

Total effective fighting ships 75 

This table does not, of course, take into consideration the 
torpedo boat destroyers, of which there are 16; the torpedo 
boats, 36; or the submarines, 9 in number. Neither does it 
include the converted merchant vessels, six in number, nor 
the fleet of gunboats, tugs, colliers, supply ships, etc. With 
these there would be 332 in all, but the figures given in the 
table above are what is known as effective fighting ships, 
although at Santiago the little converted yacht Mayflower was 
discovered to be a very effective machine. 

As the result of the various congressional provisions for 
naval construction the year 1904 passed into history as par- 
ticularly noteworthy for the number of ships launched from 
government and private yards. The record of the year as 
reported to Congress by Paul Morton, Secretary of the Navy, 
shows the following vessels to have been launched : 

Vessels launched between December i, 1903, and Novem- 
ber 23 1904. 

Charleston, protected cruiser, January 23. 1904. 

Virginia, battleship. April 5. 1904. 

California, armored cruiser, April 28, 1904. 

Rhode Island, battleship. May 17, 1904. 

South Dakota, armored cruiser. July 21, 1904. 

Dubuque, gunboat, August 15, 1904. 



OUR NEW NAVY. 443 

Cumberland, training ship, August 17, 1904. 

Louisiana, battleship, August 27, 1904. 

Milwaukee, protected cruiser, September 10, 1904. 

Connecticut, battleship, September 29, 1904. 

Nebraska, battleship, October 7, 1904. 

Intrepid, training ship, October 8, 1904. 

Georgia, battleship, October 11, 1904. 

Paducah, gunboat, October 11, 1904. 

Boxer, training brigantine, October 11, 1904. 
A g'lance at a comparative table will show more thoroughly 
than words the position in which the United States stands rel- 
atively to the other Powers in the matter of effective fighting 
ships : 

BATTLESHIPS. 

1st 2d 3d 

class, class, class. Total. 

Great Britain 48 11 .6 65 

France 17 10 10 T^y 

"*Russia -..19 10 3 32 

Italy ..8 8 i 17 

Germany 22 . . 13 35 

United States 25 . . 11 36 

Japan 7 . . i 8 

CRUISERS. 

Great Britain 42 38 69 149 

France 14 15 27 56 

*Russia 3 12 8 23 

Italy 3 3 14 20 

Germany 6 6 23 35 

United States 15 3 21 39 

Japan 8 4 14 26 

It will be noticed that when the naval program is com- 
pleted in 1907, the United States will stand third in the num- 
ber of battleships and in a similar position so far as the num- 
* No allowance has been made for the Russian ships lost in the Far 
East. 



444 OUR NEW NAVY. 

ber of cruisers is concerned ; but there are some useful, or at 
least interesting, comparisons to be gained by looking at the 
total displacements before the war in the Far East, and in 
1907. The ravages inflicted upon the Russian fleet in the Far 
East of course falsify the figures so far as Russia is conceiTied. 
but it is thought advisable to give the figures as they were at 
the opening of that struggle, February, 1904. 

Rank in 1904. Rank in 1907. 

Nation. Tonnage. Nation. Tonnage. 

Great Britain. . 1,516,040 Great Britain.. 1,867,230 

France 576,108 France 755>757 

Russia 416,158 United States . 672,525 

Germany 387,874 Russia 558,432 

United States . 294,405 Germany 505,619 

Italy 258,838 Italy 329'257 

Japan 243,586 Japan 253,681 

Great Britain and France have great fleets of torpedo boats 
of all classes, so that in mere units those navies are consider- 
ably larger than the figures would indicate. The war in 
the Far East has once more turned attention to the torpedo 
boat as a war machine, but the best thought in naval circles is 
given to the battleship. Neither Germany nor the United 
States is building any additional torpedo boats, and in the 
British manoeuvres in the Irish Sea November, 1904, an ex- 
pert who witnessed the evolutions said : 

"It has already been pretty definitely proved that the big 
torpedo boat flotillas, of which the fastest division in the whole 
thirty-eight craft attached to the Red side can barely maintain 
a sea speed of eighteen knots, are not to be seriously regarded 
as aggressive units against a modern fleet. Harbor defense 
work is the only function in which they can be reasonably 
employed." At the same time the expert was enthusiastic 
about the work accomplished by the British submarine craft, 
which are swifter than those in the American navy, although 
virtually the same type. 



OUR NEW NAVY. 445 

The battleship is the first Hne of defense and offense of a 
country, and it has become more generally recognized of late 
years that it is the battleship which counts in a fleet. It is 
the bulldog of the squadron. It is so constructed and armed 
that it can give the hardest blow and receive the brunt of 
battle, and in the new battleships being built for the Ameri- 
can navy it is the most generously armed with heavy guns. 
The modern battleship has been likened to a mobile fortress, 
which it essentially is, being, in fact, a steel citadel, whose 
walls are plated with the heaviest and toughest armor. 

There is no dispute between naval authorities that the bat- 
tleship is tiie supreme type of warship, that the first class bat- 
tleship constitutes the chief element of naval strength, and it 
is mainly through it that command of the sea can be gained 
and maintained. A recent naval authority, writing of the 
value of this type, said : 

"The supremacy of the battleship is grounded on the hard 
and fast lessons of sea history, on principles of strategy that 
are nearly immutable and on experiences costly in lives and 
treasure. It must be a part of the fleet because it supplies 
the main defiance a threatened country can deliver on the 
outer line and the strongest support it can ofYer to premedi- 
tated but sudden assault. Luckily again for the upward lift 
and advance of civilization and the independence of nations, 
no one power can afTord to possess it in overwhelming num- 
bers, for, while it is indubitably the last word that mechanical 
device and naval ingenuity can shout in aggressiveness, it is 
most expensive and difificult to build. On the other hand, 
there is a definite and logical fleet suited to each country, and 
this is fixed by the political and strategical environment, the 
geographical situation and the racial tendencies and traditions. 
Hence no nation can permit its sea force to fall below the 
standard necessary to its safety, even though its maintenance 
calls for heavy sacrifices." 

Although the supremacy of the battleship is admitted, no 



446 OUR NEW NAVY. 

nation is building so many as the United States. Including 
the 1 6,000-ton ship there are 15 in the naval programme. 
Against this Great Britain is building 10; Germany, 8; Rus- 
sia, 9; France, 6, and Italy, 4. Great Britain still maintains 
and will have maintained for the next three years at least her 
"two-power standard," but if the newest American navy con- 
tinues the increase on a scale at all comparable with that since 
the Spanish war, the British navy will fall below the stand- 
ard intended to keep Britannia ruler of the waves. 

In the American navy the superiority has been maintained 
in the armament of its ships. Compared with other navies, 
the ships of the United States show a far higher a^•erage of 
heavy guns per ship than any other. This percentage on 
battleships is 23.5; on cruisers, 17.2. France has an average 
of 22 guns on battleships and 16.5 on cruisers; Germany. 18 
on battleships and 14 on cruisers; Great Britain, 18 on bat- 
tleships and 13.4 on cruisers. In the matter of armament, it 
will be seen. Great Britain is behind. 

American faith in the battleship is indicated in the build- 
ing of the Louisiana, and her sister ship, the Connecticut. 
These great ships, monster additions to America's "newest 
navy" have the strongest batteries of any battleships afloat. 
Instead of the 6-inch rapid-firing guns which have heretofore 
prevailed since the Kearsarge type was built, there are twelve 
7-inch guns. Four 12-inch guns in fore and aft turrets and 
eight 8-inch guns complete the powerful main battery. 

Hitherto the secondary batteries of the battleships have 
been composed mostly of 3-pounder and 6-pounder rapid- 
fire guns. On the new ships these are superseded by twenty 
3-inch rapid-fire rifles, throwing a 14-pound explosive shell. 
There also are twelve 3-pounder semi-automatic guns, eight 
I -pounder automatic guns and two 3-inch field guns and eight 
machine guns for the fighting tops. 

The 12-inch guns are mounted in pairs in the two electri- 
cally controlled, balanced, elliptical turrets on the centre line, 



OUR NEW NAVY. 440 

each with an arc of fire of 270 degrees. The 8-inch guns are 
mounted in pairs in four electrically controlled, balanced, 
elliptical turrets, two on each beam, at each end of the super- 
structure. The 7-inch guns are mounted in broadside on 
pedestal mounts on the gundeck behind 7-inch armor, each 
gun being isolated by splinter bulkheads of nickel steel from 
1 3^ to 3 inches thick ; forward and aft guns are arranged to 
fire right ahead and right astern, respectively; other 7-inch 
guns have the usual broadside train. In the secondary bat- 
tery the guns are arranged in commanding positions. Each 
vesse'l has four torpedo tubes. 

In armor, as well as armament, the Louisiana and her twin, 
the Connecticut, are superior to anything afloat. The hull of 
each of the vessels is protected at the water line by a complete 
belt of armor, 9 feet 3 inches wide, having a uniform thick- 
ness of 9 inches for about 285 feet amidships, forward and aft 
of which points the thickness is gradually decreased to 4 
inches at the stem and stern. 

The lower casemate armor extends to the limits of the mag- 
azine spaces, and reaches from the top of the water line belt 
to the lower edge of the 7-inch gun ports on the main deck, 
and is 7 inches in thickness, the athwartships bulkheads at the 
ends of the casemate being 6 inches thick. The casemate 
armor around the 7-inch guns on the gun deck is 7 inches 
thick, and the splinter bulkheads are from 13/ to 2 inches 
thick. The 12-inch barbettes have 10 inches of armor in front 
and yYi inches in the rear, above the gun deck. 

There is a complete protective deck, extending from Stem to 
stern, the deck being flat amidships, but sloped at the sides 
throughout and sloped at each end. It is built up of 20-pound 
plating throughout, with nickel steel of 40 pounds on the flat 
and 100 pounds on the slope. 

The engines are of the vertical, twin-screw, four-cylinder, 
triple expansion type, of a combined indicated horsepower 
of 16,500. The screws turn outward from the top. Each ves- 
sel is lighted by electricity, and each is built for use as a 



450 



OUR NEW NAVY. 



flagship. The dimensions of each vessel are 16,000 tons dis- 
placement, 450 feet long, ']'] feet beam, 26^ feet draught and 
speed, 18 knots. 

The Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Colorado, represent the 
new type of high-class, heavily armed cruiser, and tremen- 
dously increase the general fighting efficiency of the navy. Of 
these ships the Tennessee is of 14.500 tons displacement while 
the Pennsylvania and Colorado are each of 13,680 tons dis- 
placement, figures which a few years ago would have been 
notable for battleships. The Tennessee is two feet wider than 
either the Pennsylvania or Colorado. Her principal measure- 
ments are: Length on load line, 502 feet; beam, 71 feet 6 
inches; draught, 24 feet 6 inches. ITer test speed is 24 knots 
an hour for four consecutive hours. The power is supplied by 
vertical triple-expansion engines, steam being generated in 
Niclausse water-tube boilers. The collective capacity of the 
engines is 23,000 horsepower. Her normal coal capacity is 
900 tons, but she can carry 2,000 tons if required, having thus 
a steaming radius of 12.000 miles. 

She has two lo-inch guns. The heaviest guns of the 
Pennsylvania are 8-inch. The Tennessee also has two more 
6-inch guns than the Penns3*lvania. Her armament is as fol- 
lows : 

Main battery, four lo-inch breech-loading rifles, .45-calibre 
in length; sixteen 6-inch rapid-fire, .50-calibre in length; 
secondary battery, eighteen 3-inch breech-loading rifles, 
twelve 3-pounder rapid-fire guns, eight i -pounder rapid-fire 
guns, two 3-inch field guns and eight machine guns. 

The four lo-inch guns in pairs are mounted in two electri- 
cally controlled, elliptical, balanced turrets, having inclined 
port plates, one forward and one aft in the centre line of the 
vessd, with an arc of fire of 270 degrees. The 6-inch guns 
are so mounted that four can fire directly ahead and four 
astern, with eight on each broadside. 

On the water line belt her armor is 7 feet 6 inches in width, 



OUR NEW NAVY. 4e;i 

extending the entire length of the vessel, and that covering 
the space occupied by the engines and boilers will be 6 inches 
thick. From there it tapers to a thickness of 3>4 inches. For 
a length of 232 feet above the main belt line the side is pro- 
tected by 5-inch armor extending vertically through the main 
deck. At the ends are transverse armor bulkheads four inches 
in thickenss, 5-inch armor protecting the 6-inch guns, 6-inch 
armor, the 8-inch turret, except the port plates, which are 6>4 
.inches; 6-inch barbettes, a conning tower 9 inches thick, and a 
protective deck of nickel steel extending throughout the ves- 
sel, 13/2 inches on the flat, 4 inches in thickness on the slope. 
Along the sides above the protective deck extends a 3-inch 
cellulose armor belt. 

These ships are typical of the high class ships which the 
government is securing. With ships actually in commission 
and those under construction authorized, the navy's strength 
is as follows: 

FIT FOR SERVICE OR UNDER REPAIR. 

First class battleships ii Gunboats under 500 tons 21 

Second class battleship i Torpedo boat destroyers 16 

Armored cruisers 2 Steel torpedo boats 30 

Armored ram i Submarine torpedo boats 8 

Single turret harbor defense Wooden torpedo boats i 

monitors 4 Iron cruising vessels, steam .... S 

Double turret monitors 6 Wooden cruising vessels, steam. 6 

Protected cruisers 18 Wooden sailing vessels 9 

Unprotected cruisers 3 Tugs 41 

Gunboats 12 Auxiliary cruisers 5 

Light draught gunboats 3 Converted yachts 23 

Composite gunboats 6 Colliers 16 

Training ship (Naval Acad- Supply ships and hospital ships. 14 

emy) , sheathed I — 

Special class (Dolphin-Vesu- Total 265 

vius) 2 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR AUTHORIZED. 

First class battleships 14 Training ships 2 

Armored cruisers 10 Training brig I 

Protected cruisers 5 Colliers 2 

Scout cruisers . . 3 Tugs 2 

Gunboat for Great Lakes r — 

Composite gunboats 2 Total 47 

Steel torpedo boats 6 



45^ OUR NEW NAVY. 

UNFIT FOR SERVICE. 
Wooden cruising vessels, steam.. 10 
Wooden sail vessels £ 

Total 15 

Grand total 327 

UNIQUE SHIPS. 

Our navy contains some unique ships. The armored 
ram Katahdin is one of them. The Katahdin was built 
for the sole purpose of ramming, and no other navy 
possesses a craft of its kind. The value of the ram as 
a weapon of naval warfare was known to the ancient 
Greeks and Romans, and during our civil war, and in 
1866, at the battle of Lissa, between Austria and Italy, 
the ram was used with deadly effect, and proved a terri- 
ble engine of destruction. The hull of the Katahdin is 
constructed to stand the effects of the terrible blow 
which she bestows upon an enemy, the ram-head being 
of cast steel, and so supported and braced that the force 
of the blow is distributed throughout the ship. When 
at her full speed — 16.1 knots — the impact of the ram is 
equivalent to the blow of a hammer of over 2,000 tons 
weight, moving at this rate of speed ; and if such a blow 
were fairly delivered no vessel afloat could withstand it. 
The Katahdin is constructed so as to be partially sub- 
merged when in fio^htinor trim, but has sufficient free 
board for coastinof service when not submerged. Durinof 
the war with Spain, the Katahdin was attached to the 
North Adantic fleet. 

Her armament consists of four 6-pounder rapid-fire 
guns. 

Only in our navy can a vessel of the type of the Vesu- 
vius be found. The Vesuvius is known in the navy as a 




WRITING HOME 



OUR NEW NAVY. 455 

dynamite gun-vessel, but may be described as a floating 
gun-carriage, carrying three pneumatic guns. These 
guns are built into the forward part of the ship, 
their muzzles projecting above the deck, near the bow. 
They are made of thin cast iron, and their length is 54 
feet, with a diameter of 15 inches. The full-sized shell 
for these guns is about seven feet long and 143^ inches 
in diameter, and these are charged with dynamite or gun 
cotton. Rotation of the projectile is obtained by spiral 
vanes fitted to a tail back of the body of the shell ; the 
guns themselves are not rifled. Compressed air is used 
for discharging the projectiles, and this is stored in res- 
ervoirs at a pressure of 2,000 pounds per square inch. 
The guns are loaded by hydraulic power, the projectiles 
being carried in " revolvers " under the rear of each gun. 
All the operations of the ship are directed by the officer 
in the conninor tower. The ^uns have a fixed elevation 
and their range is varied by admitting more or less air. 
The steering of the ship is effected by steam, and the 
vessel itself is trained upon her adversary as an artillerist 
moves his gun carriage, the guns being pointed in accord- 
ance with the movements of the vessel. As the guns 
are practically noiseless, the first intimation an enemy 
has is the. bursting of the shell in their midst. The 
Vesuvius has a displacement of 929 tons, a speed of 21.4 
knots, a maximum coal supply of 152 tons. Her length 
is 252 feet, ; her extreme breadth is 26 feet 6 inches, 
with a mean depth of ten feet. In addition to her pneu- 
matic guns, the Vesuvius carries three 3-pounder rapid- 
fire guns. Her complement is 70 officers and men. 

During the war with Spain the Vesuvius was attached 
to the North Atlantic fleet and took part in several 
bombardments of the Spanish fortifications at Santiago, 
where the work she did opened the eyes of foreigners 

2C 



456 OUR NEW NAVY. 

to such an extent that some European nations begar» 
at once to make experiments with this kind of appa- 
ratus for sea-fighting. 

The Buffalo, formerly the Nictheroy, is another vessel 
of the Vesuvius type. She was purchased by the United 
States in 1898. 

The Solace is known in the navy lists as an ambulance 
ship, and the United States has the honor of making a 
precedent, for no other nation in the world has a vessel 
exclusively devoted to the care of those who fall on the 
decks of their ships during a naval engagement. 

In the past, the arrangements on board ships for the 
care of the sick have been more or less limited, and the 
hospital system which was in vogue during the Civil 
War was confined to the large vessels of the navy con- 
taining what was termed a " sick bay," and which was 
provided with a surgeon ; but the facilities for the care 
of the wounded were inadequate, and many a brave 
fellow died from his injury while awaiting the surgeon's 
knife or the nurse's bandages. 

During the Hispano-American War, the United States 
secured one of the finest ships flying the American flag, 
and remodeled it into a floating hospital. This vessel, 
formerly the Creole, was renamed the Solace. 

The Solace is so arranged that she can accommodate 
700 patients, and has every appointment found in first- 
class hospitals. She has several elevators by which per- 
sons can o-o from one deck to another without climbinor 
or descending stairways; a large steam laundry and an 
elaborate system of disinfection. In addition to fans 
operated by steam power, which maintain a constant 
circulation of cool air, the vessel is supplied with ice- 
making machinery, as well as condensing apparatus, so 
that a constant supply of ice and plenty of pure water 



OUR NEW NAVY. 457 

can be obtained. An elaborate system of electric bells 
and telephones for the purpose of saving time in deliver- 
ing orders are provided, in order that the ship's com- 
mander, chief surgeon, or other officers can communicate 
vi^ith anyone in different parts of the vessel. 

The Solace has a corp of surgeons, all experienced in 
surgery and medicine, and a number of expert nurses, 
post-graduates of famous nurses' schools and thoroughly 
familiar with their vocation. The medical staff is also 
assisted by many other helpers. 

The Solace is a steel ship of 4,000 tons, with a speed 
of seventeen knots. She is painted green, relieved by a 
broad band of white around the hull, and carries at one 
of her mast-heads the ensign of the Red Cross. Over 
one million dollars was spent in the purchase of the 
Solace and in making provision for the comfort of sick 
and disabled sailors. 

Repair ships were introduced into the navy in 1898. 
Their business is to accompany the war-vessels and to 
serve them on all necessary occasions. These ships are 
navigable repair shops of the most comprehensive de- 
scription. They are provided with heavy steam tools for 
executing every imaginable kind of work in metal, and 
their equipment includes massive cranes for hoisting 
weighty objects aboard, and a cupola for making small 
castings of iron and brass. They carry armor plates 
with which to make patches for the sides of vessels that 
have been torn or ripped open by shell fire. Duplicates 
of nearly everything that go to make up a modern war- 
ship are carried in the holds of these vessels. 

A war-vessel of the first-class has about seventy sets 
of engines, and much of the work of these floating 
machine shops consists in patching and renewing their 
numerous and complicated parts, plugging shot-holeSj 



458 OUR NEW NAVY. 

fixing up boiler tubes, and mending such internal mechan- 
ism as may be in need of repairs. During a naval en- 
gagement, unless the enemy's fire is so severe as to 
render such a move impracticable, the repair ship takes 
helpless ships in tow, pulling them out of the reach of 
the enemy's fire. 

Repair ships are about 3,000 tons, and have powerful 
engines, good speed, and large coal capacity. 

NAMES OF WAR-VESSELS. 

The general plan of bestowing names upon the ships 
of our navy has been to call the battleships after the 
States, and the cruisers after the larger cities of the 
country. The exceptions are the battleship Kearsarge, 
which perpetuates the name of her famous predecessor 
in the navy, and the cruiser Columbia. The ram Katah- 
din was built at Bath, Maine, and takes its name from 
the highest mountain peak in that State. No plan has 
been followed in giving names to our coast-defense 
vessels. The Amphitrite is named in honor of the Greek 
mythological goddess who presided over the sea ; the 
Miantonomoh after the great Sachem of the same name, 
who assisted the early settlers of New England in their 
battles with hostile tribes. The names of others have 
an equally wide range of significance. 

Then there is a list of vessels that perpetuate the 
names and bravery of great commanders and other 
naval heroes who have have helped to make American 
history. Among these are the Gushing, the Winslow, 
the Farragut, and others of the torpedo-boat type. 

GOING INTO COMMISSION. 

To put a modern warship " into commission " involves 
an enormous amount of work. When the ship is laid 



3UR NEW NAVY. 459 

Up in reserve or " in ordinary," as it is called, at one of 
the navy-yards, all stores are put ashore, engines and 
guns are covered with oil and anti-rust paint, the decks 
become dirty, the sides dull and stained. 

When the order to get the ships ready for sea comes 
to the commanding officer of the navy-yard, a scene of 
activity begins. A force from the yard removes the 
accumulated dust and dirt from the various parts of the 
ship and her equipments, the engineer force attends to 
the engines and boiler-room. Every engine, boiler, pipe, 
wire, tube, rivet, nut, bolt and plate is carefully inspected, 
a full allowance of equipment and commissary stores is 
placed on board, and the galley and all its furnishings 
examined for possible defects. The line officers look 
after the condition of the guns, rigging, boats, cables, 
anchors, charts, nautical instruments, and signaling equip- 
ment. 

Up to this time everything has been under control of 
the commandant of the yard. When the captain of the 
ship arrives and reports himself to the yard commander, 
the crew, which has been gathered from other vessels or 
enlisted for the ship, reports aboard. The captain orders 
all hands to be drawn up on the spar-deck at noon of the 
day on which the ship is to be put in commission, and 
reads to them his orders from the Secretary of the Navy 
detailing him to the command. Then the commission 
pennant is hoisted at the main truck, the Stars and 
Stripes at the gaff, and the ship is in commission. 

CONSUMPTION OF COAL IN THE NAVY. 

In 1897 the navy consumed 138,318 tons of coal at a 
cost of ^656,000. During the Hispano-American War, 
when every ship that was not undergoing lengthy repairs 
'^as in service, and a large auxiliary navy was being 



460 ^ OUR NEW NAVY. 

Utilized, the requirements were something like five times 
that number of tons. The navy pays from $1.90 to 
^18.00 a ton for coal, the latter figures being the price 
in some parts of South America. 

The Navy Department has two steel coal piers and two 
steel sheds at the Dry Tortugas. Each of these sheds 
has a capacity for 10,000 tons of coal, and is equipped 
with the latest hoisting apparatus. 

The probability of hostilities between the United States 
and Spain in Atlantic and Caribbean waters made it 
advisable to have the Oregon undertake the unprece- 
dented voyage of nearly 14,000 miles around the conti- 
nent of South America. On March 19, 1898, the Oregon 
weighed anchor in the harbor of San Francisco. Sixty- 
five days later she dropped anchor in Jupiter Inlet, 
Florida, having made the longest and quickest voyage 
ever undertaken by a battleship. With scarcely a day's 
delay the Oregon joined the North Atlantic fleet and 
took a glorious part in the destruction of the Spanish 
fleet off Santiago. 

The normal coal supply of the Oregon is 400 tons, but 
for a long cruise she carries four times that quantity. 
On her memorable voyage that proved to the world the 
stanchness of American-built batdeships, she consumed 
3,908 tons of coal. Cruising at eleven knots an hour, 
the Oregon uses seventy-five tons every twenty-four 
hours. Under forced draught, with a speed of nearly 
seventeen knots, she requires two hundred and fifty tons 
for the same length of time. Every forty-three tons she 
takes aboard sinks her one inch in the water. 

No war-vessels ever left the United States as elabor- 
ately equipped for every emergency as were the Oregon 
and Iowa in October, 1898. Two colliers were sent in 
advance to Bahia, Brazil, with coal to fill the bunkers of 



OUR NEW NAVY. 461 

the two battleships upon their arrival at that port ; the 
Navy Department deeming it best to own colliers, and . 
buy coal in this country, rather than to purchase it abroad 
at excessive figures. 

The cruiser New York can carry twelve hundred tons 
o{ coal and steam thirteen knots with an expenditure of 
one hundred tons a day ; going at twenty-one knots, she 
uses more than three times that amount. 

CONSUMPTION OF WATER ON SHIPBOARD. 

The water consumption of a first-class warship is like- 
wise something enormous. Not less than 7,000 gallons 
are used by the Indiana every day — two-thirds of this 
quantity for the boilers, and the remainder for drinking, 
washing, cooking, etc. The cruiser Brooklyn requires 
about the same amount. Each war-vessel when starting 
from port carries only enough fresh water to fill her boil- 
ers ; depending for further supplies upon the evaporators 
for distilling sea- water. The ship consumes no more 
water for steaming when going fast than when going 
slow ; it is simply that more heat is put into the same 
quantity of water by burning more coal. 

SEARCHLIGHTS AND SIGNALING. 

The searchlights on our war-vessels play a very im- 
portant part in the operations of the navy, particularly on 
blockading stations. During the blockade of Santiago 
by the American vessels, three battleships took turns of 
two hours each in keeping one searchlight directly on 
the harbor entrance during the dark hours of the night, 
lij^hting up the entire breadth of the channel, for half a 
mile inside of the entrance, so brilliantly that the move- 
ments of small boats could be detected, while four other 
vessels swept the coast line on either side the harbor 
and the horizon outside in the same manner. 



462 OUR NEW NAVY. 

The searchlight also comes into play in night signal- 
ing, and by a code similar to the waving of signal flags 
in the day-time; the searchlight beams transmit the 
signals. Another apparatus for signaling at night is in 
use on some of our ships and is called the telephotos. 
It consists of combinations of red and white lights at- 
tached to a mast or yardarm, and operated by a key- 
board on the deck or bridge. 

Still another device, which is in use on the San Fran- 
cisco, works on the principle of a magic lantern, and the 
letters of the alphabet are thrown upon a screen or the 
surface of a funnel, rock or house, or upon the clouds if 
the night is dark. 

TORPEDOES. 

The human mind has devised no more destructive 
force as an adjunct to warfare than the torpedo. All 
the guns of a hostile battery, in hours of firing, cannot 
accomplish the damage inflicted by a single torpedo at 
one blow. The first historical record of the employment 
of the torpedo idea was the use of floating magazines, or 
powder boats, at the siege of Antwerp, in 1585. A 
Spanish army was then beleaguering the city, and, mak- 
ing little headway by regular means, resorted to the 
device of loading a ship with powder and letting the 
wind and tide carry it against the sea-walls of the city. 
As a result, the walls were damaged, but the land forces 
repaired them in time to defeat a Spanish attack. Not 
long after, the Dutch sent out a powder boat which 
fouled one of the Spanish ships and completely destroyed 
it. During the years that elapsed between the Antwerp 
experiment and the beginning of the present century, 
powder boats were resorted to on numerous occasions. 
During the Revolutionary War, Captain David Bushnell 
invented a submarine boat with which to attack the 



OUR NEW NAVY. 463 

British ships in American waters, but while reasonably 
navigable, the craft did not accomplish the expected 
results. Bushnell then turned his attention to drifting 
torpedoes. Two kegs filled with powder and clockwork 
to explode them at the proper time were attached by a 
long line and set adrift off New London, where the tide 
would carry them towards the British ship Cerberus, 
lying at anchor. A small supply vessel lying alongside 
the Cerberus was completely destroyed by this device, 
but the war-vessel escaped without serious injury. 

Another attempt of Bushnell's was to blow up the 
British fleet before Philadelphia, in 1778, with the first 
contact torpedo ever made. Kegs filled with powder 
and fitted with plungers that would produce a spark 
when struck with sufficient force were employed. Some 
twenty or thirty of these torpedoes were prepared and 
launched, but Bushnell had not accurately calculated the 
speed of the current in the Delaware, and it was daylight 
when the fleet of kegs reached the city front. One keg 
blew up with a loud explosion, having struck a piece of 
ice in the river, and the frightened British, remembering 
the New London affair, hurried troops and artillery to 
the river front and fired at every floating object for 
twenty-four hours. A few were struck and exploded. 
This incident is known in American annals as the " Bat- 
tle of the Kegs," and furnished no less a personage than 
Judge Francis Hopkinson, one of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, with the theme for a humor- 
ous ballad. 

As far back as the War of 181 2, Fulton, the steam- 
boat inventor, turned his attention to devices for destroy- 
ing an enemy's ships, and invented several different 
kinds of torpedoes, and a submarine mine of the buoyant 
type, which floated a little below the surface, 



464 OUR NEW NAVY. 

Fulton took his models to France, but the Emperor 
Napoleon refused to have anything to do with what he 
called a savage method of warfare. From France, Ful- 
ton went to England and was given permission by the 
English Government to make experiments. He suc- 
ceeded in blowing up a brig, using 170 pounds of 
powder in the torpedo, and other experiments which he 
made proved successful, but eventually his schemes were 
rejected by the British Government as they had been by 
the French. 

Samuel Colt, the inventor of the revolver that bears 
his name, spent many years in investigation and experi- 
ment regarding the application of electricity to the ex- 
plosion of torpedoes and submarine mines, and as early 
as 1843 was able to lay mines, connect them by electricity, 
and explode any mine, or group of mines, at pleasure. 
In that year he employed five miles of insulated wire to 
destroy a brig on the Potomac ; and after his death his 
papers revealed a complete system of submarine mining, 
including a device containing a mirror arranged to throw 
the reflection of a passing vessel directly upon the line, 
and enable the operator to explode the mine by touching 
a button on his desk when the ship was in the right 
position. 

During the Crimean War, Colt's ideas, which had been 
forgotten in the meantime, were revived, and military 
engineers began to regard submarine mines and torpe- 
does as not only legitimate, but formidable means of 
warfare. 

During our Civil War, experts from the Confederacy 
were sent to Europe for materials and late devices for 
the protection of Southern ports, and as a result harbors 
and rivers were planted witli torpedoes and many vessels 
of the Union fleet were destroyed. The effectiveness of 



OUR NEW NAVY. 465 

the submarine torpedo being thus demonstrated, all na- 
tions accepted it as a legitimate means of attack and 
defense. 

SUBMARINE MINES. 

The Germans began using the submarine mine with 
great effect during the Franco-Prussian War. Their 
mines, however, were only crude inventions, required to 
be planted in large numbers, and experts were satisfied 
if one out of six exploded. 

Comino- down to the time of the destruction of the 
batdeship Maine in February, 1898, the Court of Inquiry 
of the United States Navy found that, " In the opinion 
of the court, the Maine was destroyed by a submarine 
mine, which caused the partial explosion of two or more 
of her magazines." 

The Spaniards employed submarine mines of various 
types to supplement the defenses of Cuban, Porto Rican, 
and Philippine ports — notably Havana, Santiago, San 
Juan, and Manila, previous to the Hispano- American 
War ; and one of the first moves of the United States 
in the early stages of that contest was to protect her 
entire coast with submarine mines capable of keeping 
Spanish warships at a distance. 

The harbors that were most closely fortified in this 
manner were those of Boston and New York, the waters 
of Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, and the coasts of 
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. A less 
close method of mining was employed in the harbor of 
New Orleans and along Key West and the Dry Tortu- 
gas, on account of the warships gathered there. The 
Pacific coast was well strengthened, and the bay of San 
Francisco so underlaid with mines that without modern 
appliances merchant vessels would have found it unsafe 
to steam in and out. 



466 OUR NEW NAVY. 

To explain the use of mines it is necessary to distin- 
guish between the three different kinds — the " contact," 
the " observation," and the "ground" mines. The last 
two named are the ones most in use, and the "orround" 

o 

mine is used more than the other. 

The contact mine is a simple litde arrangement by 
which a ball of dynamite is lowered to a point of about 
eight feet below the surface of the water. It is held 
there by means of a sinker which rests on the bottom of 
the ocean. The ball of dynamite has several points 
which, on being touched, are driven into the centre of the 
ball and an explosion takes place. 

As will be seen, this must be greatly affected by the 
tides. At times the ball will be a great distance below 
the surface of the water ; again it will be near the sur- 
face ; all will depend upon the tide. 

To do damage to the bottom of an ironclad, the explo- 
sion must take place at least eight feet below the water 
line, and the submarine mine must be located so that it 
will strike the ironclad six feet under water. This, with 
the ever-chanainor tide, is such a difficult matter that the 
contact mine is almost useless except when the tide is at 
a certain height. 

Another bad point about the simple contact mine is 
that it gets uncontrollable. The iron sinker, no matter 
how heavy it might be, is apt to become knocked about 
by the waves, and the mine gets floated out to sea, ready 
to do damage to friend or foe. 

The mine which is more generally used is the observa- 
tion mine. This is in three parts. To an observer who 
can be permitted a glimpse underneath the surface of 
the water the observation mine consists of three balls. 
One three feet below the surface of the water, another 
eiorht feet below the surface of the water, and the third 



OUR NEW NAVY. 467 

lying on the bed of the ocean. These three are johied 
by a cable. The top one is the observatory. This con- 
sists of a globe with two points upon it. On being 
touched these points sink into the globe and complete 
the circuit. This circuit communicates with a station 
on the shore. As the points are driven into the top 
globe a bell is rung in the station and the engineer in 
charge realizes that a ship is passing over the mine. He 
looks out to see if it is a friend or a foe. If it is a foe, 
he touches a button and completes the circuit, which 
charges a mine. The explosive lies in the middle bulb, 
or the one which is about eight feet below the surface of 
the water. 

In case a friendly ship has passed over the little observ- 
atory bulb the engineer does not touch the button, and 
no explosion takes place. These are extremely safe 
mines and are inexpensive. They can be planted in any 
harbor without danger to merchant ships. 

COUNTERMINING. 

Countermining consists in the destruction of an 
enemy's mine-field by laying across that field other mines, 
which by intentional explosion destroy the mines planted 
by the foe. If mines are found near enough to the sur- 
face, they may be destroyed by shell fire, or, if the range 
will permit, vessels of the Vesuvius type can effect the 
same end by dropping charges of gun-cotton or dynamite 
into the mine-fields. 

LIFE IN THE NAVY. 

The duties of the various officers of the United States 
Navy are much more exacting and complex than the lay- 
man would, at first thought, recognize. In reference to 
the active service department, the "landlubber" is prone 
to think that the'kaptain, for instance, has but litde to do; 



468 OUR NEW NAVY. 

that the enlisted men do everything for him. The fact is, 
however, that, although his subordinates may perform 
the more tangible manual operations, still they do not re- 
lieve him of his hardest task. They cannot think and 
plan for him. These things the captain must do for him- 
self, when unattached to a fleet or squadron, and the 
work of a coal-passer oftentimes is play beside the mental 
strain to which a commanding officer is put when a crisis 
is at hand. 

Each officer of a commissioned vessel has his own in- 
dividual thinking to do, too. The vast amount of mental 
manoeuvring that must be done when a critical moment, 
such as the sudden appearance of an enemy's battleship 
already cleared for action, is much too great for any one 
man to do. Each man has his especial part to take, and 
upon the lowest ranking officer's faithful and prompt car- 
rying out of his duties may depend the outcome of the 
impending conflict. 

GRADES OF OFFICERS. 

In such a mammoth and wonderful mechanical contri- 
vance as a modern warship there is an enormous amount 
of brain calculation involved, and especially in times of 
war the officers of the ship have not the sinecures which 
they are fabled to enjoy. The commanding officer, for 
instance, has much more to do than to simply give the 
order to set sail for his desired goal and then calmly sit 
down in luxury and await his arrival at his destination. 
The fact that naval warfare is even more complex than 
land operations is seen from the fact that the average of 
officers in the navy w^ill outnumber those of the army. 
Even the ordinary seamen are sort of officers. They 
each have themselves to command in their individual 
duties even if there is no one subordinate to their im- 



OUR NEW NAVY. 469 

mediate orders. The privates in the army act in a body, 
and many a man stands between them and a command- 
ing position. But on a warship the loss of a single man 
in a gun turret may mean the advancement of each 
remaining member of the detail. Every man has a 
certain standing, and rigid rulrs for precedence are 
estabhshed. 

The officers of the United States Navy are divided 
into two classes : officers of the lino and officers of the 
staff. The officers of the line are as follows, and exercise 
military command in the order mentioned: Rear-admiral, 
commodore, captain, commander, lieutenant-commander, 
lieutenant, lieutenant (junior grade), ensign, naval cadet, 
boatswain, gunner. They take rank in each grade ac- 
cording to the dates of their commissions. 

The officers of the staff comprise medical officers, pay 
officers, engineer officers, chaplains, professors of mathe- 
matics, naval constructors, civil engineers, carpenters, 
and sailmakers — ranking in that order. The officers, 
assistant and sub-officers of the various grades have 
relative ranks, ranging from captain to ensign, according 
to seniority and real position. 

DUTIES OF OFFICERS. 

The rear-admiral may be assigned to the command of 
a fleet, a squadron, or a naval station, and during his 
tenure of office his authority is absolute to those under 
him. He is the brains of his command, and must do the 
planning and supervising in general, with, perhaps, the 
aid of the counsel and advice of his under officers. In 
a battle he it is who orders the strategic movements 
upon the enemy, and upon his perspicacity, upheld by 
the strict adherence to his plans, rests the result. 

A commodore has almost as much power as a rear-- 



470 OUR NEW NAVY. 

admiral, the command of a fleet, however, being denied 
him. A captain is farther Hmited to the command of 
but a division of a squadron as his highest power. A 
commandership is but a short degree less in authority, 
embracing nearly all of a captaincy's authority except as 
to the direct command of ships. A captain may have in 
charge a ship of the first rate, while the third rate is as 
high as a commander may attain to. 

In order, a lieutenant-commander, lieutenant, and lieu- 
tenant of the junior grade may serve as executive officers 
or have command of inferior rate vessels. The ensigns 
and naval cadets may do any duty on the watch or in 
the engine-room as may be assigned them. All officers, 
from captain down, may also be assigned to shore duty. 
These officers of the line occupy about the same plane 
as commissioned officers in the army. Each has his 
particular station in battle, but they may be called upon 
to" act directly as assistants to the ship's commanding 
officer. They all are instrumental in forwarding the 
proper orders to the stations and seeing that they are 
carried out. 

WARRANT OFFICERS. 

Boatswains, gunners, carpenters, and sailmakers are 
warrant officers, and have no relative rank. All below 
these, including mates, are petty officers. The petty 
officers are divided into four classes, the chief, first, sec- 
cond, and third. Each of these classes is sub-divided 
into four branches, the seaman, artificer, special, and 
marine. The seamen branch embraces the master-at- 
arms, the boatswain's mates, the gunner's mates, the 
quartermasters, the coxswains, and the schoolmasters. 
The artificer branch of petty officers includes machinists, 
carpenter's mates, boilermakers, coppersmiths, black- 
smiths, plumbers and fitters, sailmaker's mates, water 



OUR NEW NAVY. 473 

tenders, printers, oilers, and painters. The special 
branch is composed of yeoman, apothecaries, bandmas- 
ters, and musicians. Sergeant-majors, first sergeants in 
charge of guard, and corporals go to make up the ma- 
rines. 

The seamen and messmen are about the only persons 
actively engaged in the handling of the warships of the 
navy who have not the privilege of being classed as 
officers. These two departments are also divided into 
the same four branches, and comprise seamen of low 
grades, seamen gunners, apprentices, landsmen, firemen, 
shipwrights, sailmakers, coal passers, musicians, buglers, 
baymen, and the various grades of cooks, stewards, and 
mess attendants. Thus it will be seen that with the ex- 
ception of but a few men nearly every warshipman is an 
officer of hiaher or lower grade. 

Of the duties of the warrant officers, the navy regula- 
tions provide that they shall act as assistants to the 
heads of departments to which they belong ; the boat- 
swain and sailmaker to the equipment officer, the gunner 
to the ordnance officer, and the carpenter to the con- 
struction officer. 

boatswain's work. 

The boatswain's especial charges are the spars and 
rigging, the anchors, boats, and other movable articles 
and spare parts pertaining to these in the hold and 
stores. The gunner has charge of the batteries, and 
supervises all ordnance work. He has in charge the 
armament and ordnance stores. The carpenter, of 
course, has for his duties all pertaining to the keeping 
in repair of the wooden portion of the vessel, the spars, 
the water-tight compartments, the bottom, and the me- 
chanical devices for the management and safety of the 
vessel. In action, he must see to speedy repairs of all 



474 OUR NEW NAVY. 

damages which affect the effectiveness of the ship. The 
sailmaker is the head of the department in charge of the 
canvas in all conditions. 

The executive officer of a vessel is the captain's right- 
hand man. He is detailed from amonor the officers of 

o 

the line by the Secretary of the Navy. He is next in 
rank to the captain, but has no authority independent of 
him. The executive officer takes the carrying out of the 
captain's orders upon himself and relieves the head of 
the vessel of many minor and arduous details, acting in 
his place and keeping a constant and watchful oversight 
on the men and their work. He is also detailed as 
equipment and construction officer, and in these capaci- 
ties has charge of all extra supplies, the requisitions, in- 
voices, returns, and disbursements. 

The second officer below the captain is the navigator 
and ordnance officer. He has o-eneral charore of the 
ship's course, under orders, and in reality is the pilot 
skipper. He reckons out the ship's position and has the 
oversight of the conning tower, chart-house, and steering 
apparatus. The navigator has charge also of the ship's 
log, and, in fact, is a small edition of the captain himself, 
always, however, bound by the latter's orders. As ord- 
nance officer he performs duties in connection with the 
magazines, shell-rooms, and torpedoes. He keeps every- 
thing in readiness for instant action, and is held person- 
ally responsible for the efficiency of the arrangement 
and appurtenances. 

DECK OFFICERS. 

The officers of the deck and of the gun, torpedo, and 
powder divisions, as their titles indicate, have subordinate 
control over these departments. The officer of the deck 
resembles the army officer of the day ; he is the officer 
on watch in charge of the ship. 1 ne safety and imme- 



OUR NEW NAVY. 475 

diate availableness of the vessel is in his charge to a 
degree. The junior officers of the Hne are defined as 
beinor those of a rank below that of a lieutenant of the 

o 

junior grade, not assigned to regular duty as watch and 
division officers. The ensign may also serve as clerk to 
the commanding officer. 

The duties of the officers of the staff are clearly in- 
dicated by their titles. The medical directors, inspectors, 
surgeons, passed assistant surgeons, and assistant sur- 
geons are detailed to duty relative to the sanitary condi- 
tion of the ship and the healthiness of all on board. 

The pay officers (with the same sub-divisions) have 
control of the monetary receipts and disbursements and 
the paying off of the ship's men. The engineers look 
after the steam motive power, electric lighting and appli- 
ances, and exercise general supervision in the engine, 
boiler, and coal compartments. The chaplain addresses 
himself to the moral welfare of the men and holds divine 
service each Sunday at sea when practicable. The naval 
constructor is a general appendage to successive vessels 
of a fleet to observe their good and bad qualities, and 
later point out to the Navy Department chances for im- 
provement in the building of new or overhauling of old 
warships. 

The so-called flag officers are those immediately at- 
tached to the commodore of a fleet or squadron. The 
personal staff consists of a chief of staff, flag lieutenant, 
clerk, and aides. The surgeon, paymaster, engineer, 
and marine officer of the fleet v^onstitute the fleet staff 
of a flag officer. The last four exert powers in their re- 
spective departments over the rest of the fleet at the 
order of the commodore. The personal staff aids him 
in the execution of his orders and in signaling. The 
duties of the four classes of petty officers are mainly the 



476 OUR NEW NAVY. 

carrying out of the commanding officer's orders relative 
to their stations, transmitted to them by their chiefs of 
departments. 

THE FIREMEN. 

In action, the engineers, firemen, and coal-passers de- 
serve a meed of praise equal to that given the fighting 
force. They work in a temperature of one hundred and 
fifty degrees and upwards, in half-hour turns. Without 
the power that moves the ship, the glorious achievements 
of our navy would not be possible. 

When the Oregon was pursuing the Cristobal Colon 
off the coast of Cuba on July 3, 1898, an engineer ap- 
proached the captain with, " Can't you fire just one 
gun ? " "One gun, what for? " Captain Clark responded. 
"The firemen are lying down, just worn out, but if they 
could hear a gun and thought that we were anywhere 
near the enemy and in action, they will get upon their feet 
in an instant." The gun was fired, and sustained the 
wornout firemen for half an hour, when the great ship 
found her reward, her 13-inch guns covering every foot 
of her adversary's deck. 

ETIQUETTE OF THE NAVY. 

Etiquette on board a man-of-war is a matter of great 
ceremonial. From the moment an officer or a common 
sailor steps aboard until after he has left, he must observe 
conventions of many kinds. 

The starboard gangway, for instance, is reserved for 
the use of the commissioned officers and their friends 
when going aboard or leaving a vessel. All others must 
use the port gangway. The first thing on stepping 
aboard ship is to " salute the deck " by lifting or touching 
the hat or cap. This is meant as a mark of respect to 
the colors and is acknowledged by the officer of the deck. 



OUR NEW NAVY. 479 

The quarter-deck is sacred to the officers, and the side 
of it occupied by the officer on duty is generally avoided 
by the others. No enlisted men are allowed on the 
quarter-deck except on duty. 

One of the prettiest of naval ceremonies takes place 
at 8 A. M. and at sunset. This is the hoisting and lower- 
ing of the colors. These two functions are accompanied 
by appropriate military music, all hands, officers as well 
as men, who happen to be on deck at the time, standing 
at "Attention," facing aft and with heads bared, until the 
colors reach the flagstaff-head or are lowered into the 
arms of the quartermaster, who receives them, as the 
case may be. 

Officers are required to salute the captain when pass- 
ing him, but not each other except when on duty and an 
official communication is made. The junior always 
salutes first, the senior returning the courtesy. The men 
always salute when addressing or being addressed by 
an officer. 

Certain interesting formalities are gone through in 
entering, leaving, and sitting in a ship's small boats. 
Entrance goes according to rank, juniors first. This is 
in conformity with the principle that the captain is always 
the last to abandon his ship. In sitting in the boat the 
senior sits farthest aft, the others ranorinsf themselves 
according to their gradation in rank. In leaving the boat 
the senior goes first, which suggests the rule that in an 
attack on shore or a boarding party the senior leads the 
way. 

Three principal ceremonials govern the official arrival 
on board or departure from a ship of persons of rank. 
One is called " piping over the side," and consists of the 
attendance at the gangway of from two to eight side 
boys and the long, shrill piping of the boatswain as the 



480 OUR NEW NAVY. 

honored person steps aboard or leaves the ship. For 
a commanding officer, admiral, or other high functionary 
the marine guard is paraded on the quarter-deck, pre- 
senting arms, with the music giving the appropriate num- 
ber of " ruffles " as the functionary passes along the 
deck to or from the gangway. This is the second honor. 

The third is the firinor of o-un salutes, the number of 
guns depending upon personal rank. The President of 
the United States and members of royal families receive 
21 oruns, the national salute, which is the hiorhest number 
officially recognized. Other officials receive varying 
numbers below this, the following being examples : Ad- 
miral, 17 guns; vice-admiral, 15; rear-admiral, 13; com- 
modore, II. Governors of States, cabinet ministers, 
diplomatic representatives, generals of the army, and 
consular officers are all entitled to gun salutes. 

The salute is not fired until the recipient is in his boat 
and pulls away from the vessel, when the first gun is 
fired and his flag is unfurled from the mast-head, to be 
pulled down with the last gun. While the salute is in 
progress the visitor's boat stops, proceeding only after 
the ceremony is over. 

It is considered a serious breach of courtesy to fire 
either more or fewer guns than the person saluted is 
entitled to. When either is done, his representative 
promptly calls upon the saluting ship for an explanation, 
and, if this is not given satisfactorily, serious offense 
results. 

Even the marking of the passage of time on board 
ship is a matter of ceremony. There is a clock near the 
captain's cabin which his orderly watches, and each half- 
hour he goes on deck and, saluting, reports to the officer 
on deck the number of bells. The officer returns the 



OUR NEW NAVY. 481 

orderly's salute, says "Very good," and directs the mes- 
senger to strike the proper number of bells. 

But at 8 A. M., noon, and 8 p. m. there is a marked dif- 
ference. These hours are reported not as "8 bells," 
but as "8 o'clock" or "12 o'clock." The officer then 
tells the orderly to report the hour to the captain, and 
the bells are not struck until the captain directs it through 
the medium of the orderly, the officer, and the messenger. 
It is not 8 A. M., noon, or 8 p. m, until the captain officially 
" makes it so." Not infrequently the captain plays Joshua 
and postpones the hour as he sees fit. 

PAY OF OFFICERS. 

The officers and men who handle our warships, if we 
except the glory and honors won, are as a class poorly 
paid. The positions of importance in the navy require 
men of unusual intelligence, who must pass through a 
long technical training and undergo a comparatively 
rou^h and, of course, often most dang^erous life. It is 
safe to say that this same class of men, were they to 
devote the same energy to business, would be compen- 
sated much more highly. The pay of an officer varies 
according to his rank and the nature of his duty. His 
income is orreatest while at sea and lowest when he is on 

o 

leave or waiting orders. 

It is not generally known that all officers feed and 
clothe themselves. They are also obliged to house 
themselves when on land. When at sea they are allowed 
30 cents a day for their rations. The salary of enlisted 
men varies from $19 a month, which is that of a third-rate 
seaman, to ^70 a month, which is paid to a chief ma- 
chinist. Ordinary seaman receives $19 a month, regular 
seaman $24, and a landsman, who is an unskilled recruit, 
^16. Salaries from $45 to $50 a month are paid to black- 



482 



OUR NEW NAVY. 



smiths, electricians, boilermakers, etc. An allowance of 
30 cents a day is allowed for rations to all enlisted men. 
Salaries are raised every time a sailor re-enlists. The 
pay of the officers of various grades is as follows : 



RANK. 



Rear-Admirals 

Commodores 

Captains . . 

Commanders 

Lieutenant-Commanders — 

First four years after date of commission 
After four years from date of commission 

Lieutenants— 

First five years after date of commission 
After five years from date of commission , 

Lieutenants (Junior Grade) — 

First five years after date of commission 
After five years from date of commission 

Ensigns— 

First five years after date of commission 
After five years from date of commission 



|6,ooo 
5,000 
4.500 
3>5oo 

2,800 
3,000 

2,400 
2,600 

1,800 
2,000 

1,200 
1,400 



On Shore 
Duty. 



|5,ooo 

4,000 
3.500 
3,000 

2,400 
2,600 

2,000 
2,200 

1,500 
1,700 

1,000 
1,200 



On Leave, 

or Waiting 

Orders. 



|4,ooo 

3,000 
2,800 
2,300 

2,000 
2,200 

1,600 
1,800 

1,200 
1,400 

800 
1,000 



OCCUPATIONS ON SHIPBOARD. 

The money paid out as wages is not the only income 
derived by those on board a ship of war; manufacture, 
barter, and trade are carried on, and many sailors, fire- 
men, and marines add very considerably to their pay. 

The Navy Department allows each man, whether he be 
an admiral or apprentice, thirty cents each day for subsist- 
ence. This "ration," as it is called, is delivered in the 
shape of ship's stores ; a few articles, however, being 
cummuted in cash to enable each mess to procure delica- 
cies not on the ship's bill of fare. In addition to these 
commuted rations, the various messes assess their mem- 
bers from two dollars to five dollars each month, and 
from this fund the cooks are paid for their service. 

Admirals, commodores, and captains take their meals 
by themselves in their respective cabins, and each has a 



OUR NEW NAVY. 483 

Steward, cook, and servant to look after his comforts. 
The senior officers occupy the wardroom. The junior 
officers and the paymaster's clerk are in the steerage 
mess. Tlie warrant officers, boatswain, carpenter, gunner, 
and sailmaker have an apartment to themselves. The 
chief petty officers have their table in a corner of the 
berth-deck, and other petty officers, with the sailors, ma- 
rines, and firemen, are messed in their respective parts 
of the berth-deck. 

One of the busiest places on board a modern warship 
is the cook's galley, where three meals per day for from 
two hundred to six hundred men are prepared. The 
"ship's" cook is in charge of this kitchen and tends the 
galley coppers and ranges. The cooks are called by the 
corporal of the guard half an hour before reveille in the 
morning to give them time to prepare the great pails of 
coffee, which are given out, hot and steaming, direcdy 
after hammocks are stowed. At seven o'clock the mess 
is piped, and the tables, swung from the carline beams 
during the night, are lowered. A cook's helper arranges 
the benches and sets the tables, furnishing each sailor 
with an earthenware plate and cup, and an iron knife, 
fork, and spoon. Breakfast is placed on the tables in 
the pots or pans in which it has been cooked. There 
is litde opportunity for table etiquette, and conversation 
for the most part is left to the smoking hour, which fol- 
lows the meal. 

The smoking-lamp is one of the time-honored institu- 
tions of the navy and is constructed much like a lantern, 
only the globe is made of sheet-iron instead of glass. 
In the side there is a small round hole through which the 
sailor sticks his pipe in order to light it. It is the duty 
of the ship's cook, or one of his assistants, to light the 



484 OUR NEW NAVY. 

lamp when the word is given by the proper officer, who 
in turn gets his orders from the officer of the deck. 

The need for the smoking-lamp arises from the neces- 
sity of guarding the ship to the utmost from danger of 
fire. War regulations provide severe punishment for 
any seaman caught with matches on his person. 

On most ships the stewards do a thriving business in 
the sale of canned goods and other delicacies, tobacco 
and cigars, which they retail at fancy prices. 

Next to his creature comforts, the sailor thinks most 
of his personal appearance, and there are many sailors 
on board who make a practice of doing tailor work for 
the crew. Such men are allowed to maintain a sewing 
machine on board, but, unlike their prototypes in civil life, 
they do not supply cloth, but simply make up what is 
brought to them by their customers, who draw it on 
requisition from the paymaster's stores. The snug fit of 
the blue shirt and the careful hang of the bell-bottom 
trousers, the breadth and curve of the jaunty hat, all 
must conform to an arbitrary naval pattern, and must 
also be made with the proper number of silk-worked 
stars, diamonds, etc., so dear to the sailor's heart. The 
tailor who does good work makes money, and he also 
does odd jobs of mending for the officers. 

The ship's barber has on his list a goodly share of the 
crew, and for a stipulated sum he gives two shaves a 
week and cuts Jack's hair once a month. The officers 
also patronize the ship's barber. 

The ship's carpenter and his mates make small wooden 
chests, called " ditty-boxes," which serve the sailor for 
all the odds and ends that on shore would be found in 
an ordinary dressing-case ; and thus add considerably to 
their pay. 

Among the ship's company are found shoemakers who 



OUR NEW NAVY. 485 

are able to at least patch footgear, and there are others 
who do not disdain to do washino- and scrubbino- for their 
mates. 



MERCHANT VESSELS. 

The decay of merchant shipping in our country from 
the proud position it held before the great Civil War is 
due to many causes, chief among which is the substitu- 
tion of iron for wood, and steam for sails. There are 
very many people living, and still active, who remember 
the time when the whole of the passenger traffic between 
Europe and the United States was in the hands of 
Americans — for the reason that their ships were more 
staunch, more comfortable, and very much faster, while 
their seamen were more enterprising. The same was 
the case with the China trade ; the American clippers 
carried all before them : while, in the race to the 
Pacific, in the early days of California, none could com- 
pare with our vessels in rapidity and the comfort of pas- 
sage. 

For some years those interested in such matters al- 
most despaired ; but there is a brighter outlook ahead 
now. The great lake fleet of steamers and sailing ves- 
sels has vastly increased. The tonnage passing through 
the Sault de Ste. Marie is really greater than our whole 
ocean tonnage of forty years ago : and the improvement 
in the quantity and size of merchant vessels built during 
the last few years for ocean service, while not keeping 
pace with the lake traffic, on account of foreign competi- 
tion, is still very gratifying. 

We have already spoken of the ability shown by 
Americans, during the last few years, to produce the 
best armor in the world, guns equal to any, and war- 
ships of the very first class, in hull and machinery. 



486 OUR NEW NAVY. 

This is all a preparation and education for taking our 
proper place as builders of the very best merchant ves- 
sels. Builders could not afford the extensive apparatus 
and machinery necessary for such construction unless 
they had been encouraged by government orders in the 
beginning. Such works as those at Bethlehem, in 
Pennsylvania, would never have constructed the largest 
steam-hammer in the world, if it had not been for the 
encouragement afforded by government orders. Now 
they are prepared to forge shafts, and other great 
pieces, for the largest merchant steamers, for the ob- 
taining of which we formerly had to send abroad. 

As for plants for iron or steel ship-building, we now 
have many. Cramps' establishment, in Philadelphia, is 
said to be the third largest in the world — and will soon 
rank higher ; there are other great works for merchant 
vessels on the Lakes and the Mississippi, and at New- 
port's News, near Hampton Roads. After these come 
the works at South Boston and the different establish- 
ments at New York. The purely naval building-yards 
and plants at the New York navy yard, and at Norfolk, 
are well known ; while the Union Iron Works at San 
Francisco have turned out some of the finest vessels 
afloat, both men of war and merchantmen. There are 
also such works in Bath, Maine. 

But the least effect of these great plants is shown in 
their production up to this time. They are not only 
educational to ship and engine builders, but they foster 
a number of most valuable trades — such as ship-car- 
penters, plumbers, copper-smiths, joiners, and many 
others. Above all come the naval designers or archi- 
tects. Men so trained are well paid, and are required 
to turn out the very highest grade of work ; and thus 
we are forming a force, at many points of our great 



OUR NEW NAVY. 489 

country, fitted, when the time comes (and it must soon 
come), to build up our sea-going mercantile marine to an 
equality with the sister service on the Great Lakes, so as 
to enable it to carry our products abroad, and bring back 
the returns, without depending upon foreign bottoms for 
that service. A few years ago there was no place in 
this countr}'' where a young man could go t® learn the 
business of designing and building iron vessels — now 
there are many such places — and they are constantly in- 
creasing in number. 

MACHINERY. 

Not the least wonder of our day is the improvement 
in the machinery of steam-vessels of all kinds. 

The engineer's department of a first-class cruiser or 
battle-ship is a bewildering and wonderful sight to one 
not accustomed to it. The complicated engines, with 
their numerous cylinders, which use the steam over and 
over, seem almost too delicate, and too like a fancy crea- 
tion, to be capable of driving the propellers at such a rate 
as they do. Instead of the rude levers of former days, 
these giant machines are managed by the turning of 
wheels which look like playthings as compared with the 
forces which they control so easily. 

The boilers not only serve to drive the main engines, 
but there are others devoted to different uses ; among 
which the principal are the distilling of salt into fresh 
water, and thus giving an abundant supply of one of the 
very first necessaries of life, and rendering the vessel 
and the crew independent of the shore in that respect. 
It is also most conducive to health ; for much of the 
disease found on ship-board, within even recent times, was 
due to the character of the water obtained from the shore. 
Then there are the electric dynamos, and their boilers 



490 OUR NEW NAVY. 

which must run when the ship is at anchor, as well as 
when she is under weigh ; while her steam steering- 
gear, when in motion, renders her guidance very easy in 
the hands of one man, when four or six would be re- 
quired at the wheels of vessels in the old days. 

As for war-ships, the vessel is under complete control 
of one man, the Captain, who, with the helmsmen, occu- 
pies the fighting-tower. He is informed by indicators 
of what is troino- on all over the oreat craft below him, 
and his orders to the enorineers, to the ^un divisions, and 
to all other parts, are transmitted in the same way. But 
ordinary speaking-tubes and such matters are not forgot- 
ten, in case hostile shot should destroy the other means 
of communication ; while, far below the water-line, is the 
old-fashioned steering-wheel, secure from shot or shell, 
to be used in case the more delicate and more exposed 
steering-gear should be shot away. The number of 
trained and experienced men which such a complicated 
machine as a modern war-ship or first-class passenger 
vessel requires, is very great. There is less need for 
old-fashioned sailors — who could go aloft in any weather 
to reef and furl — but there is seamanship still required 
to navigate, to heave the lead, to man and manage boats, 
and many other things, beside the mere drilling and 
working of artillery and small arms. It requires some 
training even to be able to take care of one's self in bad 
weather, especially in a large ship, where places to hold 
on are far apart. Of course, in a modern ship the en- 
gineer's force, as well as those immediately in charge of 
dynamos, of electric lights, and of search-lights, com- 
prise a much larger proportion of the whole ship's com- 
pany than in former times ; and the vigilance, experience, 
and foresight which have to be displayed in the depths 



OUR NEW NAVY, 491 

of the vessel is equal to that required upon the spar- 
deck and bridge. 

OFFICERS AND MEN. 

Now that our administrations, of both political parties, 
have for some years committed themselves to a gradual 
increase of our navy, to consist of the very newest ships 
and guns, it may be safely supposed that in a few years 
we shall have a respectable navy, in point of numbers, as 
it is now in point of quality. 

After all, the best ships are of no use without the pres- 
ence of men trained to manage them, and to conduct 
successfully the well-being and discipline of a large num^ 
ber of people. In a first-class man-of-war, the elements 
may be compared to a civil organization in this way: 
the Captain is the Mayor, except that he has much more 
power and authority than most mayors ; the Lieutenants 
are the executive and police officers, as well as leaders 
in battle ; the Junior officers are in training for such po- 
sitions. The Marine officer and his men represent the 
militia, adding police duties ; and the medical staff looks 
out for the general health. Then, there is the Paymaster 
and his clerk, who attend to financial matters of all kinds ; 
the engineer corps, which keeps the whole thing going, 
and lights as well as propels the great machine. Lastly, 
there is a Chaplain, who not only attends to divine ser- 
vice (as required by the Articles of War), but in many 
ways makes his influence known. The subdivision of 
duties on board a man-of-war often makes landsmen won- 
der whether such a course is necessary ; but the experi- 
ence of many generations teaches that it is. 

NAVAL ACADEMY. 

It may be of interest to our readers to know some- 
thing about the way in which the officers of the navy are 



492 OUR NEW NAVY. 

trained for their important duties. For many years after 
the foundation of the navy, boys of tender years were 
appointed midshipmen through the influence of friends 
of the President or the Secretary of the Navy. They 
then were sent to sea at once, in a cruising man-of-war, 
and, after five or six years, went to a naval school, as it 
was called, for a few months. At the end of six years 
they became passed-midshipmen, if found able to pass 
a simple examination ; after which they had to wait for 
vacancies in the list above them to become lieutenants, 
commanders, and captains. The latter was, up to the 
time of the late civil war, the highest grade in the navy, 
and corresponded in rank with colonel in the army. 
Those officers who commanded squadrons or stations 
were, by courtesy, termed commodores. The manner 
of education of the young officers who were destined to 
high command in the navy had long been felt to be 
faulty, ahhough under it such officers had been reared as 
Farragut and Rowan, Porter, and John Rodgers ; and it 
was thouorht that a school something on the lines of West 
Point, which had long existed for the army, would be of 
benefit to the service and to the country. About this 
time a change took place in the manner of appointment 
of naval cadets, and the Congressmen of the various 
States had them put in their hands, with a limited number 
left in the hands of the President, who was apt to bestow 
them on the sons of worthy officers of the army or navy 
who had died in the service. This is the usual practice at 
present. Representatives are notified when an appoint- 
ment falls due in their district, and some Congressmen 
put such appointments up for public competition among 
the lads of proper age and health, who on going to the 
Naval Academy to enter, have to pass a close physicai 
examination, as well as one in elementary branches of 



©UR NEW NAVY. 496 

learning. Many are rejected, from one cause or another, 
and the custom has arisen of appointing an alternate, 
who may be examined for the position if the first one 
fails, either physically or mentally. Those who are suc- 
cessful in the examination receive $500 a year, during 
their academic course, which is an ample sum for their 
support at the school. During the course many drop 
out ; some from ill conduct ; some from inability to follow 
the course ; and some few from failure of health ; although 
the healthy regimen and good hours often improve boys 
who are a little delicate or backward. But it must be 
remembered that it is useless for any lad who is thoroughly 
lazy and unambitious to enter there, as he is sure to be 
weeded out. Many classes do not graduate more than 
half of their original members. 

The Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Maryland, was 
founded in 1845, through the enlightened policy of Mr. 
Bancroft, the celebrated historian, who was then the Sec- 
retary of the Navy, under President Polk. Commander 
Buchanan (who was afterwards Admiral Buchanan of 
the Confederate Navy) was the first officer in charge. 

The site of the Academy was secured by the transfer 
from the War to the Navy Department of Fort Severn 
and its surroundings, one of the defences of Annapolis, 
at the mouth of the Severn river, near its entrance into 
Chesapeake bay, and with plenty of water for naval 
work. In 1849 ^ Board was organized to make regula- 
tions which were to conform, as much as possible, to 
those of the Military Academy at West Point. In 1851 
the course of study was fixed at four years, with annual 
examinations, and summer cruises in practice ships to 
familiarize the lads with sea duties. There was also a 
board of visitors, to be appointed by the President, who 
reported, annually, upon the annual examinations and 



496 OUR NEW NAVY. 

the general condition and requirements of the school. 
This board consisted of Senators and citizens distin- 
guished for their acquirements in science, as well as 
officers of different corps of the Navy. 

Owing to the Civil War the school was transferred, in 
1861, to Newport, Rhode Island, where it remained until 
1865, when it was returned to Annapolis. The grounds 
have been greatly enlarged and improvements of every 
kind made, until now it is one of the most beautiful and 
perfect establishments in the world. There is no place 
in Europe, devoted to naval training, which has any- 
thing like the space, the buildings and material, and the 
equable climate which the Annapolis school possesses. 
Although the country is flat, the fine expanses of water, 
and the wealth of foliage, give the situation great 
attractions, while the old and historic town of Annapolis, 
so connected with the Colonial period and the Revolu- 
tion, retains its curious plan, and its old church, court- 
house, and residences, much as they were when 
Washington resigned his commission. 

When the school was re-established at Annapolis the 
course of studies was rearranged to suit the advance in 
such matters as steam, gunnery, and mathematics — and 
has remained much the same ever since — only adopting 
improved methods as the occasion arose. 

The course of instruction is a long one — too long to 
be given here, but we may mention some of the studies 
pursued. There are seamanship and naval construction, 
naval tactics, practical exercises, signals, swimming, 
gymnastics, etc., ordnance and gunnery, including infan- 
try tactics, field-artillery and boat-howitzer exercise, 
great guns, mortar practice, and fencing; mathematics 
up to the calculus ; steam engineering, with practical 
exercise, and the theory, fabrication, and designing of 



OUR NEW NAVY. 497 

Steam engines; astronomy, navigation, and surveying; 
physics and chemistry ; mechanics, and appHed mathe- 
matics, and theoretical naval architecture ; Enelish 
studies, and history and law ; French and Spanish ; 
drawing and chart-making; and other kindred studies. 

Any one who shows great aptitude is put into the en- 
gineering branch, and enters the Engineer Corps ; others 
enter the Marine Corps, as second lieutenants ; and 
sometimes, when there are no vacancies, those who orrad- 
uate honorably, although at the foot of their class, are 
enabled, by Act of Congress, to take an " honorable dis- 
charge " from the service, with a year's pay. 

When a lad succeeds in passing the examination and 
entering the Naval Academy, he is required to sign arti- 
cles which bind him to serve in the Navy eight years, in- 
cluding his time at the Academy, unless sooner dis- 
charged. The system of examination comprises 
monthly, semi-annual, and annual examinations, which 
are conducted in writing, the members of a class all 
recfeiving the same questions. If a cadet fails to pass 
the semi-annual or annual examinations he is dropped. 

With the theoretical studies there are the sail, spar, 
boat, gun, and small-arm drills, all of which, with good 
conduct, go to make up the total of " marks " of the 
cadet. Misconduct or insubordination leads to the 
receipt of " demerits," which may become so numerous 
as to prevent a cadet from continuing at the Academy, 
even when distinguished in his studies. Some of the 
same officers who have charcre of the cadets durino- the 
scholastic year are detailed for the practice ships during 
the summer cruise, so that they have complete knowl- 
edge of the acquirements of their pupils. The summer 
cruise of the cadets at Annapolis corresponds to the en- 
campment of the West Point cadets; being almost 



498 OUR NEW N-AVY. 

entirely practical in its nature. The cadet engineer 
class, instead of a long voyage, go on board a practice 
steamer, and visit navy-yards, and ship-yards, rolling- 
mills, foundries, machine-shops, etc., where practical 
illustration may be had of a part of their studies. The 
academic grounds, inside the walls, consist of fifty 
acres, while outside there are one hundred acres more. 
I On this fine property there are a great number of build- 
ings, for quarters, mess-halls, class rooms, armory, 
steam-building, etc., beside an observatory, all of which 
are amply provided with models and apparatus. There 
is a fine library, contained in a lovely old house formerly 
inhabited by the governor of Maryland ; a chapel ; and 
numbers of houses for officers' quarters. There is also 
a hospital, and, on the outlaying land one of greater 
size, which is used in epidemics, and for the seamen of 
the practice-ships, and the marines of the guard. At 
large and convenient docks upon the Severn are moored 
the practice ships, steamers, steam and sailing launches, 
and cutters, for the use and instruction of the cadets. 
The average number of these is about two hundred, and 
they are, as a rule, exceedingly well-trained in battalion 
drill, so that a dress-parade during the evenings of the 
spring and fall months, with the faultless drill and evo- 
lutions, and the music afforded by the fine band, never 
fails to attract crowds of strangers, as well as the town's 
people and officers' families. 

MARINE CORPS. 

It is proper, at this point, to give some account of the 
United States Marine Corps, of which many persons not 
familiar with naval affairs have a very vague idea. 

They are sea-soldiers, or soldiers enlisted for service 
either on shore or on board ships-of-war, and who are 



OUR NEW NAVY. -499 

known as Marines, although all sea-going person are 
really marines. 

Most powers which possess navies have also marines, 
France being an exception. They constitute a separate 
military body from the seamen and other enlisted men 
of a war-ship, and are trained to fight either as infantry 
or as artillerists, and especially for participation in naval 
engagements. They are organized, clothed and equipped 
very much like soldiers of the army, and their preliminary 
instruction is the same. In fact, some of their very best 
service has been on shore ; while their being accustomed 
to the sea makes them doubly valuable for expeditions 
by water. Their headquarters, barracks and depots are 
on shore, and from them details are made when required 
for service on shipboard. These detachments vary in 
size with the ship, from a dozen men under a ser- 
geant to a hundred under one or more commissioned 
officers. 

The history of sea-soldiers is very ancient, dating back 
to at least five centuries before the Christian Era, when 
there was a class of soldiers which constituted the fight- 
ing men of a war-ship, while an entirely different class 
navigated, managing the oars and sails. Some of the 
most gallant acts which have distinguished our own 
navy have been performed by the marines, who have 
served without blemish in every quarter of the world, 
and in all the wars in which we have been engaged. 
The marines have generally manned some of the broad- 
side guns whenever hard fighting was going on, and 
have always been relied upon under the most despe- 
rate circumstances ; nor have they failed to justify that 
reliance. 

Our own Congress has nineteen times, by joint reso- 
lution, tendered thanks to the marines for their gallant 



500 



OUR NEW NAVY. 



behavior, and some of the greatest generals have added 
their tributes to those of naval commanders. Napoleon 
Bonaparte, when viewing the marines of the English ship 
Bellerophon, where he took refuge after his downfall, 
exclaimed: "What might not be done with a hundred 
thousand such men?" General Winfield Scott, when 
commanding in tlie Mexican War, said of our marines 
that he " put them where the heaviest work was to be 
accomplished, and had never found his confidence mis- 
placed." General Grant, on the quarter-deck of the 
Vandalia, which man-of-war was taking him to Egypt, on 
his voyage round the world, remarked of the marines at 
their exercise, that they were " as fine soldiers as he 
had ever seen." 

In our own service the marine corps is as ancient as 
the navy. In Revolutionary days they wore green coats 
with white facings, but their uniform has from time to 
time become more and more assimilated with that of 
the infantry of the army. 

REVENUE MARINE. 

Another branch of the public service connected with 
the sea is the Revenue Marine, of which very little is 
known outside of maritime States, although it is one of 
the most important and hard-working branches. 

This sea force was organized in 1790, more than a 
century ago, for the protection of the revenues of the 
(jeneral Government from duties upon imports. The 
Act of Congress provided for the building and equipping 
of the revenue cutters, " to be officered and manned by 
one master and not more than three mates, who should 
be appointed by the President, and be deemed officers 
of the customs." 

This was done under the administration of Alexander 



OUR NEW NAVY. 661 

Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, and one of 
the shining lights of our early days as a nation. He 
suggested giving the officers military or naval rank, 
" which," he added, " will not only induce fit men to en- 
gage, but attach them to their duties by a nicer sense of 
honor." 

The first vessels built for this service were brigs or 
schooners, and they were commanded by excellent offi- 
cers and sailors, who were proud of their position. They 
had not only to look after the collection of the revenue 
from imports, but to preserve order in ports, and had many 
other onerous duties. They had to make returns of all 
vessels boarded, as well as any special duties which the 
Secretary of the Treasury might direct. They were to 
succor vessels in distress — and, to this day, the Revenue 
vessels cruise on our coasts during the very worst win- 
ter weather to succor vessels, and many a cargo, as well 
as many lives, have been saved by their exertions. 

Any one, even those who are not familiar with ships, 
can tell a revenue vessel by the flag she carries — be- 
cause, while the union is the same as in other flags of the 
United States, the stripes run vertically instead of hori- 
zontally. 

Formerly the revenue cutters were almost always of 
schooner rig, and generally very neat and trim, and very 
beautiful and picturesque vessels, especially under sail, 
but at present and for many years past, the " Cutters " 
are able sea-going steamers. In former days the rev- 
enue cutters, in addition to the protection afforded to 
commerce, had to attend to the placing of buoys, and 
the supply of lighthouses, under the direction of Collec- 
tors of Customs of districts. But in 1852 the present 
Light House Board was established — and special vessels 
devoted to that service, than which there is none better 



602 OUR NEW NAW. 

in the world. The Revenue Marine has often taken part 
with the Navy in operations of various kind, such as the 
War of 1812; the Florida War; the Mexican War; the 
Paraguay Expedition ; the Civil War ; the Seal Fishery 
patrol, the American-Spanish War, and numerous other oc- 
casions, giving the best of service cheerfully and promptly. 
As regards appointment of officers in the Revenue 
Marine, we may say that the service is entirely separate 
from the Navy, and controlled by the Treasury Depart- 
ment. This Department appoints cadets, not less than 
eighteen and not more than twenty-five years of age, who 
maybe promoted to third lieutenants after two years' ser- 
vice, and after having passed a satisfactory examination. 
This takes appointments out of the line of personal or 
political preference. The cadets are first sent on a 
practice cruise at sea in a revenue cutter, and then 
trained in practical seamanship and navigation, and dur- 
ing the winter study mathematics and other things neces- 
sary to fit them for their duties. If successful in passing 
as third lieutenants they have a reasonable chance of 
rising to Captain. Revenue cutters, beside their ordinary 
duty, are often called upon to make special cruises in 
search of missing vessels, or to enforce neutrality laws 
when expeditions may be fitting in our ports against 
neighboring and friendly governments. Since Alaska 
has been acquired some of the most remarkable cruises 
have been made in Arctic waters, not only for the succor 
of whalers, but for the protection of the natives from 
smugglers who would try to introduce poisonous spirits. 
Officers of the revenue service are also detailed as in- 
spectors and assistant inspectors of life-saving stations, in 
which capacity they have done excellent service, and 
added much to the value of that noble branch of our 
public work. 



•UR NEW NAVY. 603 

The whole of the Revenue Marine Service is in charge 
of a chief, called the Chief of the Revenue Marine, in 
the Treasury Department, at Washington, forming a 
separate bureau. This chief must be a man of ability, 
for he has great responsibility, and must have legal 
and scholarly attainments in order to be able to meet all 
the calls upon him. In regard to nautical matters he is 
supposed to avail himself of the advice of competent 
senior officers of the service, and also as far as the per- 
sonnel of the Revenue Marine is concerned. 

MARINE HOSPITAL SERVICE. 

It may be of interest to many persons in the interior 
of our country, who are not brought in contact with 
water transportation, or even with river boats of any kind, 
to know what is meant by the " Marine Hospital Service," 
which has existed from our earliest days as a nation, and 
yet has nothing in common with the Revenue Marine, 
or with the Naval Service. The Naval Service has its 
own hospitals, and the Revenue Marine make arrange- 
ments for their sick and wounded at proper places. The 
Marine Hospital Service provides for all sick men who 
follow the water in the merchant service, whether they 
are salt water or fresh water men, whether they are on a 
Mississippi steamboat, or on a vessel just arrived from 
a China voyage. Its authority, under the law, dates 
from the year 1798, but it also provided that a tax of 
twenty cents a month should be exacted from every 
officer and seaman for the support of hospitals. In the 
following year the same provision of tax was made for 
the navy, and all officers and men have paid it for nearly 
a hundred years ; so that the Marine Hospitals and 
the Naval Hospitals have never cost the nation anything, 
the money for their support having come purely from 



504 OUR NEW NAVY. 

this personal tax. Every merchant sailor pays that ; and 
every naval person, from an admiral to a messenger boy, 
has twenty cents a month deducted from his pay for hos- 
pital service. 

The Marine Hospital Service has of late years been 
more serviceable than ever, especially in the prevention 
of the introduction of cholera and of yellow fever into 
our country. 

The organization is complete and excellent. There is 
a supervising Surgeon-General, who has great powers 
and great responsibilities, a medical purveyor, surgeons, 
passed-assistant surgeons, and assistant surgeons. These 
treat an immense number of cases, and not a few have 
lost their lives in combating epidemics. These officers 
are selected by examination and entirely removed from 
any politics, and are bound to go wherever they are 
ordered, and obey regulations. 

LIGHT HOUSES. 

Another interesting and most exceedingly important 
institution connected with naval affairs is the United 
States Light House Establishment. From small begin- 
nings this has grown to be one of the most important 
administrative branches of our government, and one 
which, we may say with pride, reflects the greatest 
honor upon us in the eyes of the world at large ; for a 
reliable and thorough system of the kind is a blessing 
and a safeguard to mariners and travelers of all nation- 
alities. 

The first light house built in the country which is now 
the United States of America is said to have been that 
at Little Brewster Island, in Boston Harbor, Massa- 
chusetts, about 171 5. Then followed others, all sup- 
ported by the Provinces in which they were placed, of 



©UR NEW NAVY. 505 

course. There were by the year 1789 twenty-five 
light houses on the Atlantic coast, ranging from Maine 
to Georgia. They were supported by a tax upon 
vessels which used them, and the tax was paid as part 
of the port dues, according to the lights the vessel must 
have passed in reaching her destination. In 1789, the 
National Government took charge of such matters, and 
the collectors of customs appointed by the President had 
charge of lights, and collected the dues. The service 
was often unsatisfactory, and so, in May, 1838, Congress 
created a Board of naval officers to determine where licrhts 

o 

were actually needed, and to settle other points in the 
same connection. This led to increased usefulness, 
and at last, in 1852, the Light House Board was created 
by Act of Congress, which has usefully existed ever 
since, the result of their work being a light house 
system equal to any. 

The new Board consisted of three officers of the navy, 
three officers of the engineer corps of the army, and 
three civilians, one of whom was the Secretary of the 
Treasury, and the remaining two persons of high scien- 
tific attainments. Such a constitution took its mem- 
bers out of the pale of political appointment, and 
enabled them to lay out plans which they could them- 
selves hope to see carried into effect. 

This Board divided the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the 
Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, and the great western 
rivers into districts, to each of which an inspector, who is 
an officer of the navy, and an engineer, who is an officer 
of the army, is assigned. These, under direction of the 
Board, keep up the light houses and lights, and are 
charged with the discipline of the light keepers. They 
make constant visits and report upon the condition of 
lights, and of the behavior of the keepers, so that the 



50G OUR NEW NAVY. 

syscem is as nearly perfect as it can be made when we 
consider the exposed position and solitude of many of 
the lights. The great subject of light ships, of whistling 
buoys, of gas-lighted buoys, and other warnings to 
mariners, belongs to the same subject, but would require 
a large book to treat them properly. Our people at 
large do not appreciate the service of our light house 
establishment, not only on the sea coast, but on the 
great rivers and lakes, because they do not see it. If 
they did see it, they would see what it has accomplished, 
and how commerce would be hampered without it. 

It is a magnificent work, and now, in our country, the 
immense number of lights, beacons, lightships, buoys, 
and fog-signals are kept up entirely by the general gov- 
ernment, without making any charge in the way of light 
duties against ships of any country. 

TRAINING SHIPS. 

Naval Training Ships, for the education of appren- 
tices, are to be noticed in connection with other matters 
treated of in this chapter. This was begun at least fifty 
years ago, when it was thought to be proper to correct 
the large proportion of foreign seamen in our Navy by 
training native-born boys to man our squadrons. Many 
boys were, under the law then enacted, enlisted to serve 
between the ages of thirteen and twenty-one, and to be 
brought up as naval sailors. For a time things went 
very well. A large number of boys became excellent 
seamen and petty officers before they arrived at twenty- 
one. But many boys enlisted under the idea that the 
apprentices were to be made midshipmen, and, as that 
did not take place, great dissatisfaction occurred, and the 
system was gradually broken up. 

In 1863 a renewed attempt was made at establishing 



•UR NEW NAVY. 507 

a Naval Apprentice System, and a great deal of labor 
of brain was spent by officers upon it. There was suc- 
cess, but it was hampered very much by the fact that all 
the boys put in the apprentice ships took away from the 
number of men allowed by law to man cruising vessels 
of the Navy. Still, the officers persevered, and there is 
now, at New York, and Newport, a well established 
naval apprentice system, which graduates many lads of 
intelligence and sufficient education to make them valu- 
able persons on board our modern men-of-war, when 
they become petty officers. 

The Naval Training Ships for Apprentices must not be 
confounded with the Training Ships belonging to Phila-. 
delphia and to New York and Boston, which have been 
in successful operation for some years. These vessels 
are loaned by the government to the cities which pay the 
expense of their maintenances, except the salaries of the 
officers, who are detailed from the Navy. The " School 
Ships," as these are commonly called, are sailing vessels 
of the old type, without their guns, so that they are more 
comfortable ; and every effort is made to preserve the 
health of the boys who are received. These ships make 
— as a general rule — two voyages in the year. One is 
to Europe, in summer, and one to the West Indies in the 
winter. In the Philadelphia ship there are generally 
about eighty or ninety boys, with a sufficient number of 
old sailors to teach them how to pull and haul. Some 
of the graduates of this ship, after two years' service 
and study, have obtained very good berths in merchant 
vessels ; and are in a fair way to being masters. But it 
all depends upon themselves and how much they are 
really worth. 

A wrong impression has gone out about these train- 
ing ships, in many quarters, which is that boys who were 



508 OUR NEW NAVY. 

bad, or unmanageable, went to them. In old times bad 
boys were sent to sea to be beaten into shape, but they 
do not take that kind now. 

To be admitted on board an apprentice ship a lad 
has to be physically sound, and to have good certificates 
as regards his moral character. The great mistake per- 
sons make is in regarding these ships as penal institu 
tions for the reform of boys. On the contrary, the 
moment a lad is convicted of theft, or of any disgraceful 
proceeding, he is discharged; and the standard on board 
is kept high in that way. What we have said will be 
sufficient to indicate the purposes of the Training Ships, 

LIFE-SAVING SERVICE. 

A most interesting department of the government 
service connected with nautical matters Is the "Life- 
Saving Service of the United States," to give it its legal 
title. This admirable Institution was first organized by 
Act of Congress, in 1878. It is remarkable that it is 
the only existing gov ernmejit vistitution of the kind in the 
world, and our general government is abundantly 
justified for its creation by the results. 

In England, and the British Islands generally, where 
so many wrecks occur, owing to the large traffic and 
the uncertain and stormy weathers so frequently met 
with, the admirable life-boat system is provided and 
supported by a society, to which society all honor is due. 
But their life-boats would be of little service on our 
coasts or lakes, where an entirely different kind of craft 
is, for the most part, in use. The British life-boat 
system is of very great interest, but has no place here. 

Previous to 1878 the principal systematic efforts in the 
direction of succoring ship-wrecked persons along our 
coasts were due to the Massachusetts Humane Society, 



•»R NEW NAVY. fl09 

which, as early as 1 789, had caused huts to be erected 
at some of the most desolate points on that coast for 
the shelter of ship-wrecked persons who were fortunate 
enough to reach the shore. The first life-boat station 
was established by this society at Cohasset, the scene 
of many dreadful wrecks, in- 1807. This society still 
exists and does much good, although, of course, 
superseded at some points by the government estab- 
lishment In other parts of the country such societies 
were established, and saved many lives and much 
property, but are now, for the most part, discontinued. 
The first step toward a distinctively national life-saving 
service was taken in 1848, when Congress appropriated 
;^i 0,000 for providing surf-boats and other appliances for 
rescuing life and property from shipwreck on the New 
Jersey coast, where such disasters are so common, 
owing to the numbers of vessels bound to the o-reat 
ports, and the nature of the coast. Buildings and 
apparatus were provided at eight different points along 
this coast, and the system worked so well that the next 
year a larger appropriation was made for the coast of 
Long Island, and to increase the number upon the Jersey 
coast. Then the system grew very rapidly, extending 
to Rhode Island, North and South CaroHna, Georgia 
and Texas, as well as the Great Lakes, especially Lake 
Michigan. It now extends to the Pacific Coast, and 
even points on our great western rivers. Up to 1878 it 
was a branch of the Revenue Marine Service, but in 
that year Congress separated it, and made it a definite 
establishment under its own head. 

As now organized there are twelve districts and more 
than 200 stations, which are known as life-saving stations, 
life-boat stations, and houses of refuge. The life-saving 
stations have quite nice and pretty houses, with wide doors 



510 OUR NEW NAVY. 

on the ground floor, out of which the Hfe-boat is rolled 
when about to be put in service, and in another room 
are stored the life-car, wreck-gun, lines, and other appa- 
ratus. Up-stairs there are rooms for the men of the 
crew, and extra cots for use in emergencies. 

At life-boat stations the houses are smaller, being 
made to accommodate only the life-boat, gear and crew. 
The houses of refuge are found only on the long, lonely 
stretches of the Florida coast, and can accommodate 25 
persons. Here are stored wood, food for that number 
for ten days, means of lighting a fire, and other such 
things, which would allow of ship-wrecked persons who 
reached there refreshing themselves so as to be able to 
march. These houses have also a boat-house with a 
galvanized iron boat and oars. 

There are regular inspectors, who are officers of the 
Revenue Marine, who visit these stations regularly, and 
see that the men are in good drill, can handle boat and 
apparatus properly, and that everything is kept in order 
for instant use. 

Each station is in charge of a keeper, who selects his 
own crew under proper regulations. He is by law an 
inspector of customs, must prevent smuggling, and take 
in charge any wrecked property which may come on 
shore, and is responsible for everything in the station 
and for the conduct of his men. 

The keeper and his men are always hardy and skilled 
men, familiar with the surf, and the methods of handling 
a boat in it. At night they patrol the beach with lan- 
terns and night signals, and also keep strict watch by 
day, especially in bad weather. This system of patrol- 
ing is a distinctive feature of the United States Life- 
saving Service, and its proved value in discovering 
stranded vessels causes it to be maintained with great 



OUR NEW NAVY. 513 

Vigilance and the manner of its performance to be strictly 
watched. Any evasion of this duty is promptly punished. 
When stations are only a few miles apart, on such fre- 
quented and dangerous ooasts as those of New Jersey 
and Long Island, the patrolmen pass, at night, along the 
beach until they meet the patrol from the next station ; 
then they exchange tokens to prove that they have met, 
and set out to return. It is boasted by the Life-saving 
Service that most lives are saved on wrecked vessels, 
when it is humanly possible to reach them, either by boat 
or line ; and it is also boasted that no life-boat man has 
ever shown the *' white feather" in the discharge of his 
duties. 

No more interesting or instructive sight can be wit- 
nessed on cur ocean or lake shores than a life-saving 
crew at its exercise. During the Columbian Exhibition 
at Chicago crowds were always attracted when these 
exercises took place. Especially interesting was the 
throwing of the line by means of the bomb-gun, the 
establishment of communication with a supposed wreck, 
and the bringing safely on shore by this means several 
men. 

THE FLAG. 

Perhaps it may be of interest to give some slight 
sketch of the history of the Flag, in this connection, the 
flag of which we are all so proud, and which flies over 
such an extent of country and has penetrated the most 
remote seas. The hoisting of the " colors," or national 
flag, on board a ship-of-war is a matter of considerable 
ceremony, and the same is the case when it is hauled 
down at sunset. 

When the time for " colors " comes — which is gener- 
ally at eight o'clock in the morning — the music is called 
(the band paraded, if there is one), and, as the bell 

30 



614 OUR NEW NAVY. 

Strikes, the flag is run up to the gaff, or the staff, while 
everyone faces toward it and raises the cap and the band 
plays one of the national airs. In the evening, as the 
sun dips below the horizon, the same ceremony takes 
place. Different-sized flags are used according to the 
weather ; from the " storm-flag," hardly bigger than a 
boat-ensign, to the great flag which flies on the Fourth 
of July and other grand occasions, but always, v^^hen in 
port, a ship-of-war in commission has the flag flying 
during the day. During-the day, also, every boat which 
leaves a man-of-war for any purpose, must show her flag, 
and this is especially necessary in foreign ports, where 
so much of the time of our national vessels is passed. 
Most persons know that the " stars and stripes," or " old 
glory," as the soldiers used to call it during the civil 
war, was not at once adopted upon the breaking out of 
hostilities between England and her American colonies. 
The national flag of the United States assumed the form 
which it now has after many experiments, and was the 
subject of much thought and discussion. 

The flags used by the Colonies before their separation 
from the mother country would naturally be those of 
England, and these were mostly borne during such times 
as the French and Indian wars. But it was not always 
the case, for several flags, differing more or less from 
those of the kingdom, were adopted by some of the 
Colonies at different times previous to the Revolution 
which was followed by independence. But the Colonies, 
as a rule, used what was called the " Union Flag," which 
was the cross of St. George and that of St. Andrew 
combined, and typifying the union of England and 
Scotland. 

When the Colonies revolted a committee was appointed 
by the Continental Congress to consider the subject of a 



OUR NEW NAVY. 51 fi 

proper flag. Dr. Franklin was the chairman of the com- 
mittee, which assembled in the camp at Cambridge, on 
January i, 1776. They selected and displayed the flag 
of the " United Colonies." It was composed of seven 
red and six white stripes, with the red and white crosses 
of St. George and St. Andrew conjoined on a blue field 
in the corner, denoting the union of the Colonies. This 
was the basis of our present national colors, but it was 
some time before these were adopted. 

In the beginning of the hostilities the Connecticut 
troops had standards displaying the arms of the Colony* 
with the motto. The flag displayed by General Putnam 
had a red field with the motto of Connecticut : " Qui 
transtulit sustinet " (" He who transplanted us will sustain 
us"), on one side; on the other, "An appeal to Heaven." 
The floating batteries at the same time had a flag with 
a white ground, a tree in the middle, and the motto 
"Appeal to Heaven." 

Trumbull, who was both soldier and artist, in his cele- 
brated picture of the battle of Bunker Hill, represents 
our troops as displaying a flag combined of the two last 
mentioned — a red flag with a pine tree on a white field 
in the corner — and it is probable that just such a flag 
was used in that battle. 

When, in 1775, South Carolina displayed a flag at the 
taking of Fort Johnson by Colonel Moultrie, it is de- 
scribed as one having a crescent in the quarter of a blue 
field. There were various others, but they were soon' 
supplanted by the '* Great Union Flag " we have spoken 
of already. 

In 1776, a flag was presented to Congress by Colonel 
Gadsden for the use of the infant navy. It had a yellow 
field, a rattlesnake with thirteen rattles, coiled to strike, 
and the motto, " Don't tread on me." The device of a 



51g OUR NEW NAVY. 

rattlesnake was a favorite one with the colonists at this 
period, and was frequently adopted as a heading by the 
newspapers of the day ; being represented as cut into 
thirteen parts, and the initial of one of the colonies on 
each, with the motto "Join or die." The British used to 
make great fun in those times of many peculiarities of 
the Rebels, as they were called, and one of the jokes 
was directed against the fondness of the Americans for 
the number thirteen, which was suggested, of course, by 
the number of the Colonies. Some of the witticisms in this 
connection were personal and rather vulgar, but one was 
that " every well-organized rebel household has thirteen 
children, all of whom expect to be generals and members 
of the high and mighty Congress of the thirteen United 
States when they attain thirteen years ; that Mrs. Wash- 
ington has a motded tom cat (which she calls in a com- 
plimentary way Hamilton) with thirteen yellow rings 
round his tail, and that his flaunting it suggested to the 
Congress the adoption of the same number of stripes 
for the rebel flag." 

The Province of Massachusetts adopted a flag to be 
worn by the cruisers of that Colony, which was white, 
with a green pine tree in the middle, and the inscription 
•' Appeal to Heaven ; " being the same as that used on 
the floating batteries. The great Union flag, without 
the crosses, and with a rattlesnake and " Don't tread on 
me," was also used as a naval flag. Diflerent corps also 
carried different flags, with many deyices, in the land 
service, but the " Great Union Flag," which was first un- 
furled on the first of January, 1776, over the new Conti- 
nental army at Cambridge, was particularly the banner 
of the United States. 

The stars and stripes, substantially as we see them to- 
day, were not adopted for the standard of the United 



OUR NEW NAVY. 517 

States until some time after the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. On the 14th of June, 1777, Congress passed a 
resolution, which was not made public until the followino- 
September, that the " flag of the thirteen United States be 
thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, that the union 
be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a 
new constellation." The new constellation, which it was 
intended should be represented, is supposed to be Lyra, 
which in ancient times was the symbol of harmony and 
unity among men. The difficulty of representing a con- 
stellation on a standard probably led to a modification 
of the plan, and a circle of thirteen stars was chosen, 
signifying union and eternal endurance. Red is the em- 
blem of courage and fortitude; white, of purity; and 
blue, of constancy, love, and faith. 

The flag, as thus authorized, was used at the surren- 
der of Burgoyne at Saratoga, October, 17th, 1777. 
Admiral George Preble, whose history of the flag is the 
greatest and most exhaustive work upon the subject, 
says : " It will probably never be known who designed 
our union of stars, the records of Conofress beino- 
silent upon the subject, and there being no mention or 
suggestion of it in any of the voluminous correspond- 
ence or diaries of the time, public or private, which 
have been published. It has been asked why the stars 
on our banner are five-pointed, while those on our coins 
are six-pointed, and always have been so. The answer 
is, that the designer of our early coins followed the 
English, and the designer of our flag, the European 
custom. In the heraldic language of England, the star 
has six points ; in the heraldry of Holland, France, and 
Germany, the star is five-pointed." 

But, in the same work, an account is given, which 
is of the highest interest, in regard to the actual many* 



518 OUR NEW NAVY. 

facture of the flag which we know so well, and revere 
so greatly. 

In June, 1776, almost a year before the present flag 
was adopted by solemn resolution of Congress, General 
Washington was in Philadelphia for about a fortnight, 
being called on from New York to advise with Congress 
on the state of affairs just previous to the Declaration 
of Independence. 

At that time there lived in Philadelphia a Mrs. Ross, 
whose house is still standing at what was formerly No. 
89, and now 239 Arch street. It is litde changed to-day 
from its general appearance of more than a century ago. 

Mrs. Ross was a well-known upholsterer, and a com- 
mittee, which had been considering the important question 
of a flag, visited her, in company with General Washing- 
ton, as the most likely person to be able to carry out their 
views, and asked her to make a flag from a certain 
design of which they produced a rough drawing. At her 
suggestion, it is said, this was redrawn by General Wash- 
ington in pencil in Mrs. Ross' back parlor. From this 
she made a specimen flag, which was afterwards adopted 
by Congress. Mr. Canby, who wrote a paper about 
this origin of the actual flag, which he read before the 
Pennsylvania Historical Society, in 1870, vvas a de- 
scendant of Mrs. Ross on the mother's side, and at the 
time he wrote the paper there were three daughters of 
Mrs. Ross living, and a niece, then ninety-five, who all 
relied for their accounts of the transaction upon what 
Mrs. Ross had told them. They said that when " Colo- 
nel George Ross and General Washington visited Mrs. 
Ross and asked her to make the flag, she said : " I don't 
know whether I can, but I'll try ; " and directly suggested 
to the gendemen that the design was wrong, the stars 
being six-cornered and not five-cornered (pointed), as 



OUR NEW NAVY. 519 

they should be. This was altered and other changes 
made. 

Whether this account is correct or not has been made 
a matter of much discussion by persons interested in the 
early history of our country. There is one thing certain ; 
it came from report of three people, reduced to writino-, 
and not from tradition. Mr. Canby said that he was 
eleven years old when Mrs. Ross died in his father's 
house, and he well remembered her telling the story. 
The mother and two of the sisters of Mr. Canby were 
then living and in good memory. One of his aunts suc- 
ceeded to the business, and continued making flaes for 
the navy-yard and arsenals, and for the mercantile 
marine for many years, until, being conscientious on the 
subject of war, she gave up the government business, 
but continued the mercantile until 1857. 

It is altogether probable that General Washington, 
with Colonel Ross, who was no relation of Mrs. Ross, 
and Robert Morris, did call upon Mrs. Ross to make 
flags, for General Washington knew Mrs. Ross very 
well. In fact, she made his shirt ruffles and many other 
things, especially while he resided in Philadelphia as 
President of the United States. 

The first change in the flag provided by the Act of 
Congress which we have quoted was in the year 1 794. 
Then Congress passed a resolution : " That from and 
after the first day of May, Anno Domini one thousand 
seven hundred and ninety-five, the flag of the United 
States be fifteen stripes, alternate red and white. That 
the union be fifteen stars, white in a blue field." This 
was approved on January 13th, 1794. Already new 
States had been formed. 

The next change was in 1818 ; when the resolution of 
Congress was that: " From and after the fourth day of 



520 



OUR NEW NAVY. 



July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen hori- 
zontal stripes, alternate red and white ; that the union be 
twenty stars, white on a blue field ; and that, on the ad- 
dition of a new State into the Union, one star be added 
to the union of the flag ; and that such addition shall 
take effect on the fourth day of July next succeeding 
such admission." The present arrangement of the stars 
on the flag is well known, and the arrangement is such 
as to admit of addition when a new State is admitted. 

In regard to the use of flags in the navy we may 
say that there are no admirals or vice-admirals at pres- 
ent allowed by law. Our navy now has only rear-admi- 
rals. When the three grades existed the distinguishing 
flags were of blue bunting, bearing four, three, or two 
stars, according to the rank of the officer : and, in the 
same way, carried at the main, fore, or mizzen. 

Sometimes it happens that two or more admirals 
are in company, and then the senior flies the blue 
flag, the next in rank the red, and the last the white, 
each with the stars as described. The Secretary of the 
Navy, when on aboard a vessel of the navy always flies 
a flag peculiar to his office — being a blue flag with the 
stars — in other words, the union of the national flag. 

When the President embarks in a naval vessel the fact 
is denoted by hoisting the national colors at the main, 
he being Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy. 

The courtesy of the flag on board a man-of-war em- 
braces so many points that they would be wearisome to the 
ordinary reader. We may only say that, in the case of 
two vessels meeting at sea, the national flag is always 
displayed. If one ship is a warship and the other a mer- 
chant vessel of another country, or of her own, and she 
does not respond, the man-of-war is apt to compel lier to 
do so, especially under any suspicious circumstances. 



OUR NEW NAVY. 52] 

When a man-of-war leaves a harbor at an earlier hour 
than that usual for hoisting the colors she always 
hoists hers first as she proceeds seawards, and each ship 
lying in the port hoists her ensign until the outgoino- 
vessel has passed, when it is hauled down again, to 
await the regular hour for hoisting it with the honors. 

In seaports, when the flag of a newly-arrived man-of- 
war is saluted, that flag is always shown at the fore of 
the saluting vessels at the first gun, and prompdy hauled 
down when the last gun of the salute is fired. 



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